In Lieu of Perfection
by KC Komicer
Summary: To have the perfect pokemon, you need breeding, EV training, TMs and such. But is there anything truely perfect in the world? Are the pokemons themselves willing? Blaze and Hikari are two pokemons who found themselves caught in such a situation.
1. The Perfect Pokemon

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_In life, we always seek perfection. Is there really one in the first place?_

**In Lieu of Perfection**

_Komicer Productions _

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First it was Azure the Altaria. Then it was Shockhound the Manectric. One by one, they were replaced with new, unfamiliar faces. Cold, unmoving faces. Faces which Blaze could not put a name to, mainly because they had no name. 

Within this small, darkened room in the tree house they call the secret base, Komicer, their trainer was reviewing their last battle within the Battle Tower with serious intent, occasionally pausing at certain moments to take note. Stacks of reference materials lay at the side of the table with certain ones of higher relevance meticulously labeled. Blaze stood by Komicer's side like a loyal advisor, wincing with the instinct of a fighting type as a Scizor sent a Hitmontop hurtling off-screen with a vicious slash of its pincer-like claws. He could almost feel the pain the Hitmontop felt across his orange-yellow, feathery chest, the all-accurate aerial ace.

The Scizor in the video was leaning casually against the tree house wall, claws crossed on its thorax, images of the video reflecting on its red gleaming steel body. He did not betray any emotions, no happiness, no glee, no relief. He had no purpose in life but for the one he was breed for, to win fights. He was one of those replacements that Blaze calls the 'nameless ones.'

The video ended with the lady referee pronouncing Komicer as the victor. Komicer switched off the video and turned towards the computer, reading through his compiled records. Without facing them, he waved a hand to dismiss the two present pokémons. Blaze signed in relief; he had disliked this obligation of being present while Komicer was doing the battle review… and the Scizor also gave him the creeps.

It was times like this that Blaze found his old friends getting replaced one by one, like aging footballers left on the bench. He was not sure when would it be his turn. Perhaps there was still a bit of sentimentality in Komicer in keeping his first pokémon around. He wished he could say the same of the rest.

As he turned to walk out, he heard Komicer said, "Call Hikari."

Pause.

This time, it was Hikari's turn. Blaze tried to push that thought out of his mind. Maybe Komicer had wanted to teach her a new TM; he had bought quite a few of those recently.

Blaze opened the door and stepped out into the open. Only a few rays of light can be seen filtering through the thick clouds. It was not totally dark but there was still not much light. The waves off the small island were getting rather choppy. It reminded him of the time Kyogre was running amok, those were not pleasant times for a Blaziken such as him. It could not get any worse.

A Pelipper slept soundly at the nearby branch. Blaze only saw him around when they were at the secret base. He was what Komicer had called a HM slave, one who acts as a transporter and helps them get to where they cannot normally go. The Pelipper did not seem to mind his lowly position; he was also a nameless one.

Just below the tree, Ms. Kang was tending with her child in the pouch, waving her tail playfully in the air as her child made cute, futile attempts to grasp it. She was a Kangaskhan, a pokémon not native to the Hoenn region. She had come as a trade with a trainer Komicer met online. But given her nature, she soon integrated with the rest. Ms. Kang was the motherly figure for all of them. Beside them slept a miniature hula dancer without a care in the world. The twin flowers on her head trembled lightly in the wind as the Bellossom snored gently. Kireihana was never a fighter, instead preferring to take centre stage during the contests to impress the audience. Despite her timid nature, she was a natural performer.

Silent footsteps came from behind as the Scizor emerged from the dark room, its eyes narrowed into menacing slits. It stepped beside Blaze and in its soft, wispy voice asked, _"Sssay, do you think you can do your flamethrower attack firssst… or I can do an aerial ace firssst…?"_

"_Why ask? Of course I can do mine first…"_ Blaze replied without hesitation. He turned and looked into the cold eyes of the Scizor. He could see the reflection of his beak-like mouth and pale plume on the Scizor's chrome. _"But there is not reason for us to try it out. Right?"_ His reflection had an annoyed and quizzical look.

The Scizor did not reply. He seemed to be deep in thought. Then he leaped from where they stood. Blaze looked as the Scizor landed lightly just before Kireihana without waking her up and sauntered off to meditate on his own.

"_Who would be faster? Him or me…"_ Blaze thought. Somehow, the question took an unnecessary importance. Why? He looked up into the sky and saw a fleeting glimpse of a fluttering white figure. That reminded him, he needed to find Hikari. He grimaced at the thought of where he had to go. As usual, she would be at that place.

Testing his grip on the branch with his talons, Blaze lifted himself up and started to climb the tree.

* * *

The tree house in the middle of an island, in the middle of a lake. 

Their secret base away from the hustle and bustle of the cities.

And at the summit of the tree house tree, a lone, frail looking figure sat on one of the thicker branches and gazed into the distance. From afar, she would have looked human, a very beautiful one too.

But she is not. The natural-looking, shoulder-length green hair was the first giveaway. A slender green arm brushed back some of the wind-blown hair from obscuring her large red eyes, revealing three extensions from the side of her face. The closest thing on the human anatomy to call those would be ears.

Two red plates protrude from her slim body, one at the front and the other at the back. They act almost like satellite dishes, picking up the waves of emotions from all around her. She sat cross-legged; one could see her long, white legs that did not end with toes as her white dress-like covering fluttered gently in the wind.

She was Hikari, a Gardevoir by species. She was used to being mistaken as a human and did not mind it. She liked the idea of being one. Unrepentant from the many warnings given by Blaze, she insisted adamantly that the top of the tree house was the place for her.

And she thinks she was in love. With who, she was not so sure.

Despite the growing wind, Hikari sat unperturbed, with a hand to her chin, looking into the distance with nothing particular as her target. She liked it here, being some distance away from the rest. That meant that she did not need to feel all those different emotions from those around her. Here was where she could concentrate on her own emotions instead of the others. It was like using Calm Mind without actually knowing it.

She was sure that the one she loved was Komicer, her master. Now, she was no longer sure.

Someone was coming from below. His emotions announced his presence like a siren in the silent night. The Gardevoir looked down to see the orange-feathered Blaziken climbing nimbly up the tree to where she was. Hikari could sense anxiety, annoyance, fear, desire from him. The last emotion, Hikari preferred not to know. She needed to sort out her own emotions first before she could give a reply.

Plucking off a twig from a nearby branch, she tossed it lightly towards the approaching figure. It landed on his head. She gave a soft, delighted laugh as Blaze looked up to see where the twig came from. There was a look of surprise on his face. He continued to climb towards her.

As Blaze reached where Hikari was, she reached out her small hand to help him up. He probably did not need it but Hikari felt that it was the least she could do to help. The much larger Blaziken helped himself to a space on the thick branch. He looked so uncomfortable. The fine feathers on his body, so fine that they were almost fur, blistered in anticipation of things to come. Hikari could sense his phobia of the surrounding waters coursing through his body, his mind trying to fight back his natural instincts.

"_I'll never understand why you liked it here; there is nothing but water to see at all…"_ Blaze shuddered.

**What brings you here?** Hikari projected her thoughts to him. As a psychic, she could project her thoughts directly to whoever she wanted to speak to. Unlike other non-psychic pokémons, communication with humans was not a problem to her.

Though she was never a very good psychic, as a Ralts, she was constantly bullied by Poochyenas before she came under Komicer's care. She never left him since.

**Is it me?** she teased, knowing full well what the results would be.

Considering the natural red of Blaze's face, he did a pretty good job going redder. He's cute in his own way, Hikari thought to herself. She could still recall the ridiculous, haphazard confession from him. Fighting pokémons just lack that subtle touch to make the girl's heart fly. She ended up laughing instead of replying him.

He was still waiting for her answer.

"_Ah…"_ Blaze stuttered, "_Yes…"_ He scratched his head, _"Komicer asked for you."_

**Master?** Hikari felt her heart sank. It was such a nice day too, how many of these days would be left now?

**It's my turn now, isn't it? I wonder when he caught the Alakazam?** she murmured.

"_No!"_ Blaze almost shouted, _"I'm sure he had other plans! You're the first pokémon he officially caught; he can't just dump you like that!"_

Hikari looked to Blaze, his arms in midair, as if he wanted to grab her. Part of her felt disappointed that Blaze had controlled himself. The other part glared back, challenging him to do so and risk getting pushed off the tree with a well-aimed psychic.

Blaze lowered his arms slowly, meeting the glare straight on. He then turned away and prepared to climb down_. "I won't let him,"_ he said softly, _"Let's go. I'll wait outside."_

Hikari looked on as Blaze lowered himself from his position. She then made her way delicately down to the entrance of the tree house. She could see the rest of the pokémons now and sense their emotions. The motherly Ms. Kang. Her best friend, the timid yet spotlight-loving Kireihana… The nameless Pelipper and Scizor away from the rest.

The recent additions to their motley crew posed an enigma to Hikari. She could barely sense any emotions from them. They belonged to the other end of the emotions spectrum which was equally uncomfortable for her.

Blaze stood outside the tree house, arms akimbo and waited. He seemed almost like a guardian.

As Hikari pushed the door and entered the darkened room, she could hear a soft _"Good luck."_ from behind. She would need it.

The door closed behind her.

The room was completely dark, save for the glow emitting from the LCD monitor screen. Komicer sat before it, his back facing her. What had happened to the old lively room she knew? Or the younger, more caring trainer Komicer used to be? It was hard to believe that they were essentially still the same.

**Master, I have come.** Hikari said as she looked around the room for a tall, foxy pokémon with an overgrown moustache.

Komicer spun around to face Hikari, reflections on his round glasses obscuring her view of his eyes. She could sense different degrees of glee, confidence, determination in the trainer and a little, a very little tinge of care in him. At least, that little bit still exist somewhere but they were completely overshadowed by the obsession to win.

"Hikari! One of my best pokémons!" Komicer proclaimed, "I've got good news for you!"

She could sense the anxiety of Blaze outside the room rising. He must be straining his ears, trying to eavesdrop as much as possible. She decided to deliberately included him in her psychic projections.

**I'm joining Azure and Shockhound for a rest?** Hikari asked, wringing her hands anxiously at her waist.

Komicer paused and cocked his head to a side.

"The rumors you all spread," he dismissed cheerfully with a simple wave of his hand. Too cheerfully.

"No. I've got BETTER news for you," he said, putting much emphasis on 'better'.

Hikari could only sense a rise in his emotions, but not his thoughts. She started to wish she can read minds. If a Hitmonlee can do it, why can't a psychic pokémon do the same?

"You see, I've recently met this trainer from Mossdeep who had a rather good Banette… and he had wanted a Gardevoir…"

**You're trading me away?** her thoughts wailed, the volume rising in sadness. That sounded worse than just staying in pseudo-hibernation with Azure and Shockhound.

"No, no, no…" Komicer tried to soothe the depressed Gardevoir, "I'm too used to having a Gardevoir by my side. A ghost pokémon will not be useful in the team."

**Then…** Hikari thought, confused with what her master had in mind.

"You, according to my observations, are adamant in nature. The perfect Gardevoir should be modest in nature. One who knows Psychic, Calm Mind, Thunderbolt and Will-o-wisp." He narrated as he flipped through a little notebook.

Hikari considered what Komicer said. There was nothing she could do about her own nature. She could easily learn most of the moves he mentioned… She glanced at the rows of TMs and HMs at a corner of the room. Except…

**Will-o-wisp is Banette's signature move…** she started to feel the creeping sense of horror that came with the realization of what would happen next.

Judging from the very faint smell of smoke coming from outside, Blaze had also understood the meanings behind Komicer's words.

"You're a lucky girl, Hikari… I've met the Banette, he's surprisingly lively for a marionette pokémon… Full of spirit, I must say. Ha ha," Komicer chuckled at his little oxymoron as he stood up and moved towards her.

**Master?** Hikari asked with dread.

Her master now stood before her, at around the same height. She could now see his excited eyes through his glasses. He simply looked average, but yet he had complete control over her.

Komicer gave a big grin of satisfaction.

"Hikari, you are getting married!"

* * *

Thank you for reading. Most characters belong to me, just not the world they populated. 


	2. The Perfect Plan

The premises or the setting of this original Pokemon story did not belong to me.. At least I have not read any that went like this anyway, not that I've read a lot...

Enjoy!

Oh, and don't mind the long line of underlined full stops, that's the only way I got to keep my formating.

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The door shut softly behind her as Hikari exited the room.

She was silent and remained silent as Blaze approached her. He should know the answer, he heard it.

"_You agreed!"_ He raged. Tongues of flames spurted out from his wrist. There were scorched marks just outside the door, little markings of black, singed wood where his wrist laid as he tried to hear what went on inside.

Master thought that it would be best for us. Hikari answered softly, faced down, looking at the wooden floor. She could not bear to face Blaze, to see his face contort in anger and disappointment. She could sense it without seeing it anyway… and that pained her.

"_Do you think it is best for you!" _

She could not answer. His emotions were overwhelming her, let alone her own.

Hikari felt the talon-like hands grabbed her shoulders. The heat from the emitting flames added a physical dimension to the emotional upheaval, but she did not resist. She had no strength left to do so.

"_Is that what you want? To be married to a puppet?"_ This time, he asked more gently but a lot more disappointment.

She could not face him.

"Technically, it is not a marriage."

**Master!** They turned. Komicer was standing at the doorway, hands behind him, surveying the scene with a look of disapproval.

"Hikari is going to merely, what shall we say, 'engage' the said Banette and 'provide' both their trainers with the necessary eggs that would hatch into the perfect Ralts, fit for our training. …Of course, should she find the Banette to her liking, I would naturally give my blessings to the matrimony," he continued, the voice soft but firm.

That sounded a lot more worse than Hikari had expected. She started to feel a little light-headed.

"_Screw you and your schemes! You're a trainer, not a breeder! And breeders don't just breed for fun!  
Eggs just happen."_ Blaze let go of Hikari to face Komicer.

Of course, what Komicer heard was probably, "Blaz... Blaz….ziken! Blaziken! Blazi…Blaziken!" But the trainer seemed to understand Blaze. He had not been a trainer for years for nothing. Hikari could sense a little bit of fear from him. There was a slight movement of his hand slowly inching towards a pokéball attached to his belt.

Blaze took a step towards Komicer, arms flailing in the air. Trainer and pokémon stared down at each other, neither giving way. Blaze moved his arms back, as if he was getting ready to do a flamethrower. Komicer was ready to recall Blaze to his pokéball whether he liked it or not.

**No!** Hikari quickly positioned herself between the two of them.

**Stop this madness!** she directed that towards Blaze, **If you insist, you would have to fight me first.**

Blaze stopped in his tracks. Komicer also relaxed, a look of confidence returning to his face. But they continued to glare at each other.

"_Is that what you really want?"_ Blaze asked again sadly.

Hikari walked towards him and raised her hand towards Blaze.

There was sadness in her eyes as she gently placed her hand and caressed his cheek. Blaze felt a shudder run through his spine as he felt the coolness of her hand travel down his face and down to his chest in a smooth downwards stroke.

There was a pause, doubt.

Then Hikari pushed him away and turned, her face cannot be seen. **I'm sorry, Blaze,** she murmured, **I cannot disobey Master…**

**I cannot disobey Master…** she repeated, softer still, as if to convince herself.

Blaze looked at her, disappointment evident in his eyes. Shooting his trainer one last glare, he turned away in disgust and leaped off the tree house, walking off to be alone.

Hikari sank to the floor and looked on, not knowing what to do. She felt a human hand on her shoulder.

"It's for the best…" Komicer said, the old, humane voice was back, "For both of you…"

"You do know that nothing will come from the two of you…" he said.

Hikari looked back. For a while Komicer had returned to the old him, the caring, considerate trainer who was still learning his ropes. She understood what he was trying to say.

Not that it made her felt any better.

"Come! I have contacted the occult maniac at Mossdeep. We shall go immediately now to get her, before we proceed to the breeding centre!" he commanded.

In a flash, the cold Komicer was back. Hikari resigned herself to her fate.

Komicer put his fingers to his lips and whistled. The sleeping Pelipper awoke immediately and flew over, flapping its wings lazily. It landed, allowing Komicer to mount onto it.

Then, Komicer removed a pokéball from his belt and pointed it towards Hikari.

"Hikari, return!" A ray of pure, red light shot from the pokéball and engulfed her body.

**It's for the best…** Hikari reminded herself again.

As she felt her body drawing into the ball, a single drop of water hit the floor.

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Blaze looked on as the Pelipper flew east with Komicer on it. He knew that Hikari would be with them. Everything had been happening too fast, leaving him helpless and depressed.

In frustration, he harshly plucked a handful of grass from the ground. The grass got instantly incinerated by the flames from his wrist. Then, he stared into the mass of water before him. There was land in the far distance. And from there, he could easily get to the day-care cum breeding centre run by the kindly old couple…

Hikari's sad eyes haunted him.

Despite what she said, that was not what she had wanted in her heart.

At least, that was what Blaze wanted to believe.

First, he would need to come up with a plan. He needed to reach the breeding centre before it was too late.

Closing his eyes and placing a hand on his beak-liked nose, Blaze racked his brains for a solution. Beads of sweat started to appear at his forehead. Fighting pokémon just weren't meant to be the thinking type.

Scratching his head in frustration, he wondered if he should try and knock a couple of the lurking Sharpedoes in the water into his side, then using the hair of his back, tie the Sharpedoes together and surf to land. But there was no guarantee that the Sharpedoes would know how to surf. And he would have to enter the water to lure the Sharpedoes.

Yet since no other ideas were forthcoming, Blaze touched the dreadful water gingerly with a nail. Then fighting back with his phobia, he waded into cold, unwelcoming waters, feeling his health draining away from him as he looked around for any unsuspecting Sharpedoes. He would just have to try to knock the ability into them somehow.

Save for the occasional Tentacool brushing against the feathers at his legs, there was no water pokémon large enough to carry a Blaziken in sight. Maybe he would have to attract their attention somehow… Blaze unleashed a couple of flamethrowers into the water. Steam rose from the sizzling water that was hit. A couple of Tentacools that have fainted from the boiling water floated to the surface and drifted gently away with the ripples.

Still no big water pokémon in sight.

A large shadow fell upon him. Looking back, Blaze saw that Ms. Kang stood before him with a frown. Her child and Kireihana were cowering behind her trunk-like legs. _"Oh, look what you have done…"_ She cooed soothingly to her child as she lived her up and placed her back into the pouch, _"You've scared Junior and Kireihana…"_

"_Bla…Blaze… We kno… know what was ha…happening…"_ Kireihana stuttered, she had been very unnerved by Blaze's wanton release of fire. She had been emotionally traumatized by fire ever since Blaze once accidentally set her skirt of leaves on fire.

"_We heard your little quarrel from here. Hikari's going to meet some prospective mate and you're just mopping here? Tsk,"_ Ms. Kang looked at Blaze, _"Knowing you, you should have ran off to rescue her or something. You do like her, do you?"_

"_Will you all help me?" _Blaze asked with urgency. His Plan A had more or less failed miserably.

"_Of course!"_ Ms. Kang grinned, revealing all her sharp teeth. _"No one makes Hikari cry and escapes my wrath."_

Kireihana nodded her flowery head furiously while trying to avoid looking at the steaming water.

"_So how do we get off this island?"_

There was a pause as the gathered pokémon considered the possibilities.

"_Actually…"_ Ms. Kang started, _"I've seen other Kangaskhans ferry trainers and their young across rivers before. Assuming that we can find that HM that teaches Surf, I might be able to get you across…"_

Three heads turned towards the direction of the tree house with the same idea running through their mind.

"_Won..won't that be breaking in?"_ Kireihana asked after some hesitation.

Blaze shrugged and waded out of the waters. Giving himself a good shake to dry himself, he started to climb the tree. Just another notch in the plan against his would-be-former trainer.

"_We'll be staying here,"_ Ms. Kang shouted back to Blaze_, "neither of us is of the right size to climb trees."_

The door went down with a kick, bringing the rays of sunlight into the darkened room. There was still not enough light for Blaze to see properly. He ignited a ball of fire from his wrist to act as a torch, bringing a glow of heat and light to the room.

The nameless Scizor was leaning in the corner, those silted eyes fixed on Blaze with a sinister fascination. For a moment, both of them stared at each other, sizing up their chances. When did the Scizor get into the room? Or more importantly, what is that disc he held in his pincers?

Blaze shifted his legs to provide more balance and readied himself. "Do you wish to stop me?" he asked, keeping his sight on Scizor as the Scizor casually got up from his leaning position.

"_I believe you are looking for thissss…"_ the Scizor flipped the disc to Blaze in a swift movement.

Blaze caught it with his free hand and peered at it. The print on it, HM-03 could be seen.

"_Jussst in cassse, you're not sssure… that'sss the HM for Sssurf…"_ the Scizor said. There was a slight degree of contempt in his voice. "Take it and leave…"

Then, without waiting for a reply, the Scizor walked out of the room, deliberately brushing past Blaze. He did not show any signs of fearing the bright flame burning on Blaze's hand, unlike other bug pokémon.

Blaze relaxed his stance and turned to face the back of the Scizor. The Scizor was about to leap off the tree.

"_Why?"_ Blaze shouted. The Scizor stopped.

"_I am a product of intenssse breeding and ssselection,"_ Blaze heard. The Scizor turned around to face Blaze again. _"I wasss born to fight… to be the ssstrongessst… but then there'sss you… "_

The Scizor stared at Blaze_, "I want to fight you, to prove my strength. I can't do that now, not when you are ssstill here."_ He turned once more to leave.

"_I am not doing thisss for you… thisss isss for myssself. The nextzz time we meet, we would be enemiesss…"_

"_Thanks."_ Blaze shouted back.

There was no answer as the Scizor leaped off the tree for the second time of the day and walked off, ignoring the other two pokémon present. But for a while, Blaze thought he saw a glimpse of emotion somewhere inside the cold, dark eyes of the Scizor.

This was not the time to consider about the psyche of the Scizor. Blaze quickly rejoined Ms. Kang and Kireihana at the foot of the tree and passed the disc to the Kangaskhan. Ms. Kang turned the tiny, blue disc delicately in her claws to inspect it.

As Blaze and Kireihana looked on, Ms. Kang closed her eyes and then, with a constrain look on her face, concentrated on something. After a couple of seconds of silence, Ms. Kang opened her eyes and grinned widely.

"_Are you okay?"_ Kireihana seemed to have calmed her nerves.

"_I seemed to have forgotten something…"_ Ms. Kang pondered aloud, _"You know… that move that I would do a little warm-up before rushing head-on at the opponent…"_

Blaze tried to recall all the moves he had seen Ms. Kang done before. _"Double-edge?"_ He hazarded a guess.

Ms. Kang tapped her gigantic foot for a while, leaving a slight imprint on the ground_. "Ah… yes… that one. Never liked it, always pose a danger to my Junior… Good riddance… Now to business…"_

She took the disc and smacked it on her head. Then once again, she closed her eyes and concentrated again. When she opened her eyes again, she announced happily, _"I think I just learned to swim Poliwhirl-style."_

Blaze could not help but wonder if what Ms. Kang did was for real or for show. But what else could he do?

Ms. Kang threw the disc aside, walked to the edge of the water and did a couple of light hops. The ground shook as if there was a small earthquake. Then, she looked back at the shaking Kireihana and the queasy Blaze.

"_What are you all waiting for? Let's go!"_

A few minutes later, Blaze was on his way to rescue Hikari. Somehow, Ms. Kang had acquired the ability to float on the surface of the water within minutes, though most of her body remained submerged in the water as she paddled her way to mainland. What little space left above water was shared between Junior, Kireihana and Blaze himself.

Junior seemed to be enjoying herself, squealing in excitement as she looked at the water speeding past. Kireihana and Blaze sat uneasily in silence, Kireihana because of her fear of Blaze's fire, Blaze because of the surrounding water.

Kireihana finally broke the silence_. "Bl…Blaze, did you think your ac…act of defiance will succeed? Mas.. no… Komicer may have changed somewhat… but he is still a.. ver…very determined tra…trainer… He would not let… let you off easily." _

Blaze considered Kireihana's words. He knew them to be true. Should he managed to escape with Hikari, Komicer would definitely hunt them down with all the resources he got. All his old allies would become enemies, including Ms. Kang and Kireihana and definitely the Scizor.

"_I don't know,"_ he finally conceded, _"But unless I try, I would not be true to myself… and I'm sure Hikari and I, we could think of something."_

"_Then, where would you two go? You cannot run forever…"_ Kireihana asked, her concern overriding her fear.

Blaze thought for a while and then a faint memory, something he heard from the past came back to him_. "Mystery Dungeon,"_ he answered, _"That place Ms. Kang told us before. That place with no human presence."_

Kireihana giggled softly, the scent from her twin flowers floated away in the sea breeze_. "I do not know how you can do it and personally I do not think it would work… remember Hikari's stubborn nature? She would never agree to this considering her loyalty to Komicer."_

"_But,"_ she continued_, "we grew up together, Hikari is my best friend. I cannot leave her in such a situation, whether she approves it or not, I will help you in whatever bird-brain plans you had to rescue her." _

"_Thank you,"_ Blaze replied, wondering if he should be feeling somewhat insulted by her 'bird-brain'

"_After all, I would not like it myself if Komicer force me to do such a thing…"_ Kireihana was on the row, she was blushing slightly and moving her petite green hand in circles on Ms. Kang's back, _"I would like Scizor to come…"_

Somewhere in Blaze's brain, something hit the 'pause' button. _"What? Scizor?"_ he asked in between coughs.

"_Well… he's so… determined… so brave… he would even dare to face fire…"_ she said dreamily, _"I just wish… that he would reply sometimes…"_

Blaze tried to visualize the minute, pacifist Kireihana with Scizor the war-machine… something did not register. Then the surreal image of Scizor acting gentlemanly with the Bellossom, he tried to control the emerging laughter. He did not need the distraction now… he needed to focus…

That was when the moving stopped. There was no longer water around them.

"_When are you all going to get off? Time's a wasting!"_ Ms. Kang urged while she panted in fatigue from her lying position.

Blaze held Junior and got off the back of Ms. Kang along with Kireihana. The feel of land underneath his feet was wonderful.

Ms. Kang rolled over and pushed herself to a seated position. Blaze returned Junior to her arms.

"_I can't go with you, I'll only slow you down and I'm too tired anyway…"_ Ms. Kang said, _"Blaze, grab Kireihana and run. I know you can do it."_

Blaze gently took Kireihana and placed her on his back where his flames would not get to her. Kireihana shut her eyes tightly in fear and held on to his neck even tighter.

With a look of gratitude to Ms. Kang who was now cradling Junior to sleep, he leap off into the direction he knew the day-care centre would be.

Ms. Kang's voice boomed out from behind. _"Good luck! Take good care of Hikari! And don't accidentally set Kireihana on fire again!"_

The wind against his ears, the changing scenery, the colored rooftops of the city… Blaze ran as fast as he could. Komicer once told him that a Blaziken can clear a thirty-story building with one leap. Blaze had never tried it himself, but he was sure he could at least come close to that.

The rooftop of the day-care centre could be seen now from the distance.

It was show-time.

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Anyone interested in beta-reading may email me. Thank you.

This fic is going on hiatus until Fanfiction(dot)net corrects the problem I keep encountering when uploading documents. Those still interested please go over to Mediaminer(dot)org where this fic will still continue. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused and I thank you for you understanding of the matter.


	3. The Perfect Escape

Pokemon does not belong to me. Everything else is mine! Mine! Ha ha ha ha !

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The next time Hikari was released from her pokeball, she realized that she was no longer on the island where the secret base was. She was in a simply-decorated room. A couple of potted plants were placed in strategic points around the room and a PC stood at the upper-right corner. To the left, there was a counter manned by a kindly old lady and behind them, a door that seems to lead out of the house.

There was a table before her, and seated around were two trainers. One of them was Komicer, her Master. He was talking animatedly, enthusiastically with the other trainer. The other trainer was dressed in dark, purple robes adorned with stars and sequins, topped with a large, floppy witch hat. A foggy, crystal ball laid carefully before the owner completed the setup. She could have pass for quite a pretty lass, if she got rid of all those excessive accessories.

"Hikari, I was telling Valerie here about you," Komicer faced Hikari, "She is the trainer of the Banette you shall meet."

Reality set in. This was the mate-matching session. Hikari signed and looked to the floor in depression. Regardless, she must not disgrace Master. Then lifting the edges of her dress, she gave a little curtsy to the occult maniac known as Valerie. She forced herself to smile.

**It is a pleasure to meet you and I looked forward to seeing the Banette.**

Valerie studied Hikari with her heavily eye-shadowed eyes before she finally spoke.

"Hikari… what a beautiful name…" Her voice was a hoarse, somewhat exaggerated whisper. "I believe that is 'light' in nihongo… I see that you shall be the light for many people and pokemon…"

Not knowing what to reply, Hikari answered, **Thank you.**

Valerie turned back to Komicer, "She… is a fine specimen… I am sure she would produce many more truly magnificent specimens for us… Meet… Dark…" She produced a single pokeball from the unknown crevasses of her robe. Then she tapped the pokeball once, lightly.

The pokeball snapped open and from the emerging red light, a single Banette materialized. He levitated in mid-air, his sock-liked appendages dangling limply from his main body. The marionette pokemon shook his head a couple of times; waving the bit behind his head about before he spoke.

To be more precise, Dark spoke in their mind, very much like Hikari's preferred method of communication. S**o this little cutie pie here is to be my mate this time…** he affixed his leer to Hikari. Hikari instinctively retreated. It was getting harder to maintain the façade of the smile.

Despite being smaller in size than Hikari, Dark commanded a much larger mental presence. **I… like what I'm seeing.** he said in a soft, sleazy tone. Hikari gave Komicer a look of pure desperation, hoping for the possibility of a last minute change of heart.

Komicer beamed happily, oblivious to Hikari's discomfort and the lack of chemistry between the two pokemon. "Wonderful! Light and Dark, what a wonderful contrast! Valerie, may our endeavor in the union of our two pokemon be successful!"

She did not reply in words. Valerie clapped her hands and stood up. Then she walked towards the service counter of the day-care. The lusty Dark blew Hikari a kiss and waved to her in mock coyness. Then he followed his trainer to the counter. The old lady took Dark in and after her usual words of instructions, led Dark through the door behind her. Minutes later, the old lady returned and looked to Komicer expectedly.

"Come!" Komicer commanded as he stood up. What could she do but follow her Master's orders?

For Hikari, it felt as if time slowed down. She no longer had control over herself and the entire process felt distant to her. She saw herself following Komicer, crossing a swinging door to the other side of the counter. The old lady did her routine check on her, checking on weight, height, health… then the old lady nodded to the two waiting trainers. Everything according to plan, they could go now and return later for the good news from the old man outside.

Hikari looked as Komicer and Valerie left the counter, Komicer giving her a wave before doing so. Then, they were gone. Hikari could not sense their presence nearby, they must have flown off.

Under the guidance of the old lady, Hikari was led through the door behind the counter, deeper into the house, through a long, empty corridor of doors. Strange noises came from behind the different doors. The old lady smiled knowingly. "They're having fun," Hikari heard the old lady murmured.

The different emotions emerging from behind the doors were alien and somewhat disturbing to Hikari. It felt like happiness, pleasure, a bit of fear, confusion… She felt her senses closing in on herself, cutting off all the outside emotions, the sense of emptiness. Soon, she felt nothing.

Finally, they stopped at a particular door. The door opened with a deliberate creak. There was only darkness beyond the door.

"Go in," the old lady urged, "It's not so bad, maybe even fun for some."

Hikari entered the room and the door closed behind her with a sound of finality.

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Blaze had finally reached the day-care centre. It was not that difficult. The old man never saw the intruder leap over him, the fence and for that matter, the entire building and land at the back, away from the prying eyes of the public.

Perhaps, it was because Blaze did the leap all the way from the rooftop of the nearby Pokemon centre. It was almost too easy. He had thought that all the screaming from Kireihana from the back would have at least alerted someone.

After taking a quick glance around for the presence of guard pokemon and satisfied with the situation, Blaze lifted Kireihana gently from her grip on his neck and let her down on the ground. Kireihana only stopped screaming after they had touched down. She was shaking terribly as she tried to catch her breath. If you had placed some Hawaiian music soundtrack then, she could have passed for one of those tacky, hula-dancing novelties one can buy at tourist souvenir shops.

Blaze surveyed the surroundings. There was no entrance on their side of the building into the day-care centre. Then, he would have no choice to make one.

"_Wait!"_ Kireihana stopped Blaze before he could broke the wall down. Blaze paused his fist in mid-air.

"_After yo..you break down that wall, wha… what do you intend to do? We got no idea if Hikari is here,"_ Kireihana asked breathlessly.

At that very moment, they could hear people leaving the building, words of thanks exchanged between day-care management and trainers. Blaze and Kireihana quickly pressed themselves close to the wall to avoid being seen. Minutes later, a very familiar Pelipper could be seen flying off into the distance. Komicer had left the building.

"_That is our proof! Hikari is in there somewhere!"_ Blaze said and sized up the wall. He took a step back. In a swift movement, he stepped forward for momentum. Then concentrating his strength on a single point of the wall, he punched it with all his might. First, the cracks started to appear from where his fist connected with the wall. Then like the opening of floodgates, the cracks became larger and spread across the wall. Finally, the wall came crumbling down with a loud rumble.

Through the hole, they could see rows of doors down the corridor. _"Come! We'll have to search these doors one by one before we're found!"_ Blaze jumped through the hole and kicked the first door down. There was a shriek of surprise as the inhabitants, a Mr. Mime and a Jynx (probably Mrs. Mime by now) scrambled to hide themselves from the rude, intrusive Blaziken.

"_Sorry! Go ahead, don't bother about me!"_ Blaze shouted as he went to the next door to give it the same treatment. More shouts of anger were heard. _"Urggh! A Clefairy and a Glalie! I do not need to see that!"_ Blaze continued his search for Hikari, door after door, ignoring the growing ruckus that he was causing in his rampage.

Given the amount of collateral damage he was causing, it would not be long before they were found out. Kireihana signed in defeat and then lifting her leafy skirt daintily, she entered the chaos to attempt to calm the angry pokemon interrupted-in-action down.

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Hikari could see nothing, feel nothing.

There was only darkness before her.

She took a step forward. A ghostly, blue ball of light lit up the room. The Banette, Dark suspended in mid-air, leering at Hikari with mild amusement in his eyes. The ball of light danced around him like a Dustox at a lightbulb.

**Will-o-wisp…** he hissed Few pokemon can learn it naturally. You should feel honored. Dark floated towards Hikari, full of confidence despite his smaller size.

Hikari did not answer. She just stared blankly at the hypnotizing blue light.

The Banette circled around her a couple of times, looking at her from head to toe before stopping at her back. He then wrapped his limp arms around her neck. **You… would make a fine partner indeed for this time…** he blew at her ears through his zipper-sealed lips.

Hikari could not react. It was like she was under a spell.

**Don't worry if you got no experience… I got plenty of those… A Gardevoir should be nothing compared to the Weezing the last time…** Dark snuggled and rubbed his cheek against Hikari's.

Loud noises could be heard coming from outside, screams, shrieks, other variable noises depending on the pokemon doing the shouting. Hikari felt something loosening inside her. She fidgeted slightly against the Banette behind her.

**Sign… is the Attract wearing out already? Then, I guess we will have to go straight into the service of our trainers.** The Banette rolled his eyes as he continued his sweet talk.

A familiar voice could be heard. Someone shouting her name. Coming closer…

The Banette slowly directed her deeper into the room. Hikari could now see a single futon in the middle of the room. Curtains covered the windows, preventing the sunlight from interrupting the darkness within. A potted plant completed the meager decoration of the spartan room. **We won't be needing that… We're not exactly humanoids anyway…** Dark glanced at the mattress with disdain.

A very familiar, loud, rash voice shouting "Hikari!"… Approaching the room…

**Blaze! **Something in Hikari snapped. The spell of the Attract was broken.

**Blaze? **The Banette asked in surprise. He looked around for any fire.** I see no fire… or is that just your preference?** he asked in what he thought was a kinky voice. The will-o-wisp floated closer in response.

Hikari struggled against the vice grip of Dark. The Banette responded by holding on even tighter and trying to grope her. Hikari gasped in surprise and indignation as she felt his unruly hands brush against her sensitive part. With a angry blush and an angrier mood, she summoned a hazy ball of dark matter in her palm. She then slammed the shadow ball into the face of Dark, sending him flying through the wall.

**What is Blaze doing here? **Hikari murmured frantically as she felt out with her sixth sense to sense the different emotions of all around at the moment. One particular emotion stood out, one that she had found herself anticipating with a mixture of dread and hope.

The Banette returned through the wall, dusting himself for show. Then he leered at Hikari, **Feisty! I liked it!** A number of blueish orbs of light orbited around him as Dark prepared his own shadow ball.

Hikari found herself retreating as Dark floated menacingly forward. **Oh, this will be SO fun!** The repulsive Banette declared with genuine lust.

That was when the door burst opened, the entire door hurtling across the room and through Dark's body. Not that it would hurt him or anything.

Light from outside flooded the room, temporarily blinding the two pokemon within the room.

As Hikari squinted to regain her light vision, she saw Blaze stood at the hallway with wonder and relief in his eyes.

_"Hikari, I finally found you!"_

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_

Blaze took in the sight of the room. Hikari was facing some ugly-looking Banette. Both had a shadow ball in their hands and both of them looked at Blaze with a stunned look on them. He got no time to bother about the Banette, he was here only for Hikari.

Ignoring the third party, he strided towards Hikari and grabbed her hand. _"We're leaving."_ He said as he tried to pull Hikari along.

**Why? How? When?** Hikari asked, evidently confused with the latest change of plans.

"_We're leaving! Away from this confounded place! Away from Komicer! Just away!"_ Blaze replied without a thought. He was glad and relieved that he managed to find Hikari before anything happened. Hikari was resisting his grip on her hand.

Hikari managed to slip out of his grip and stood her ground. **No!** She said, looking to the floor. **I've got no intention to disobey Master.**

"_You're fighting that bloody Banette!"_ Blaze waved an accusing gesture towards the confounded Banette, _"What do you mean you are not disobeying 'Master'?" _

**That is my problem.** Hikari answered as she returned a determined glare, **Please leave before you get caught.** Her voice had softened, the last part was a plead of finality.

**You know, some might call it foreplay, **the Banette interjected unhelpfully to the feuding couple.

Without any warning, the increasing bad-tempered Blaze flamethrowered the unfortunate Banette, setting everything in the path on fire. Dark struggled for a while under the scorching fire before he collapsed. Thick, belching smoke filled the air of the room as anything flammable within the room burned merrily, bringing an orange glow to the room.

Loud shouting was approaching. Loud, angry human voices.

**The day-care owners are coming, please leave.** Hikari repeated, **I will deal with the consequences myself, just go.**

Blaze looked at Hikari's forlorn figure, flamethrowing the Banette had taken a bit of his anger out of his system._"No,_" he declared, looking straight at Hikari. He stepped forward. _"I'm not coming all the way here for nothing."_

A look of exasperation flashed across Hikari's face. A look of concentration. Then, Blaze felt himself forced back by an invisible force. Psychic. Struggling against the mental wave, Blaze slowly stood up and forced himself forward again. _"I am not leaving without you."_

"_GO AWAY! RUN!"_ Hikari was shouting, not using her usual way of telepathy. She was really desperate. Another stronger wave of psychic hit Blaze, forcing him to collapse to his knees.

Gritting his beak, Blaze held his ground. _"You're never too good when it comes to your special attacks,"_ he whispered as he stood up again, the flames at his wrist flaring under the immense pressure. For a while, Hikari looked hurt, then she resumed her force, stronger than before.

Wave after wave of psychic, Blaze resisted the mind-numbing blows to advance towards Hikari. Finally, he made a grab of Hikari and held on to her tightly. _"We are leaving now, I will not let you go through this... indignity..."_ he said as he looked directly at Hikari. Hikari glared back at him with adamant refusal and perhaps, what Blaze hoped, a little bit of happiness.

She squirmed furiously in his grip. _"Leave me alone! Leave now!"_ she bawled, hitting Blaze repeatedly with surprising weak, futile blows of 'return'. Then, suddenly she just fell unconscious, silent. Only the angry human shouting from outside, the sizzling of the fire and a series of uneven pants from below waist level could be heard.

"_I have placed her under sleeping powder,"_ Blaze heard a small, trembling voice said from below. Kireihana had finally arrived after getting caught in the commotion outside, "Take her and leave."

Blaze bent down and took hold of Hikari's slender legs. Carrying her in the wedding position, he looked down to Kireihana. _"Are you coming along?"_ he asked in concern.

"_No,"_ Kireihana answered breathlessly, looking around at the burning room. _"I will just slow you down. Plus someone need to stay behind to deal with your mess."_ She flopped down and tidied her flowers. _"Leave before they come, if Hikari get caught again, I will never forgive you."_

"_Thank you, I will never forget you,"_ Blaze replied. Kireihana waved him off as he ran out of the burning room.

With the sleeping Hikari in his arms, Blaze made his escape out the day-care centre. Through the crowd of confused pokemon swarming the corridor, through the hole in the wall, into the deep forests to where they would be safe together.

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There seem to be a problem with the uploading and editing system for now... Until it is solved, I'll stick to Mediaminer(dot)org for now. Thank you for reading. And to those who have reviewed, a double thank you to you.


	4. The Perfect Deal

The world and the new characters in this chapter does not belong to me. With that done, I would like to thank StarDragonX for beta reading this chapter. Your comments have been most useful.

On with the story!

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To tell the truth, there was a time that he did not like Hikari, or in fact hated her with passion. When they first met, Komicer had got him to act as the bait to lure the Poochyenas away so that he could rescue Hikari, then only a Ralts. He had been totally overwhelmed by the rowdy, snappy bite pokemon. In his eyes, Hikari had been nothing but trouble, dividing the attention that Komicer could have gave him. 

But things changed. Her charming attitude, her unwavering loyalty to their trainer, her childish stubbornness, her infectious laughter... it all affected him...

He has evolved before her, from the tiny Torchic to the bulkier Combusken, obviously superior to her in all aspects. At least, that was what he thought then. Hikari evolved into a Kirlia later and looking at the sprightly (though still weaker) Kirlia dance with laughter on sunny mornings made him feel clumsy, cumbersome, just a giant Mr. Chicken.

Before he knew it, she was a Gardevoir, a pokemon with insurmountable grace. Even though she hated those dry, beauty-enhancing berries, refusing to even touch them, in his eyes, Hikari exudes a beauty that like her namesake, shone through the dreaded darkness.

Perhaps it was then that his feelings for her started. Fighting pokemon were not meant to be bothered by feelings like this, but he did. It only made him feel even more inferior. He hated his inferiority compared to Hikari, her beauty to his beast. Yet, liked the ill-fated beast of the fables, he could not help but fall in love...

He was so happy the day he finally evolved into a Blaziken. Finally, Blaze could be one who was fit for a Gardevoir. Yet, she had rejected him then. She had loved her 'Master', their trainer, Komicer.

Now, they were alone in the forest, the pokemon of desire asleep soundly underneath the tree as only the soft, constant cries of the native bug pokemon could be heard. She was so close, yet still so far.

Blaze had been on the run for the last couple of hours. It was surprising how long Kireihana's sleep powder had lasted. All these while, Hikari had slept like a baby, oblivious to the tension and the danger around.

Placing the sleeping Gardevoir down against the tree, he sat down himself beside the slender figure. They should be safe here. They could afford a rest, or at least he needed it. His inner fire was running out soon with all that had happened for the day.

Just what had he done... Blaze closed his eyes to recount the number of offenses he had committed so far. He broke down the door at the tree house, broke down the doors and a wall at the day-care centre. And he set an entire room on fire. Once the news spread, he would be one of the most wanted pokemon in the whole of Hoenn. He had no idea of how to get to their destination or of the situation of Kireihana and Ms. Kang. The situation seemed... so hopeless.

At least, Hikari would be safe. Blaze gazed at the peaceful sleeping psychic. Her red chest plates moving gently up and down as she breathed. Her mouth, inhaling and exhaling in a slow, leisurely rhythm, her lips... He found himself leaning closer...

Then he quickly turned his attention away. This was not time for things like this. Noticing a berry shrubbery close by, Blaze moved closer for a better look. Those were wild growing Sitrus berries, not exactly the type he liked but the hard, yellow fruit would just be what he needed now.

Plucking the berry off the branch, he bit into the crunchy berry. Strength slowly flowed back into him. These would be able to keep him lasting for a while longer. There were more of those berries around the vicinity. Blaze figured that Hikari would need some food once she woke up. Rising back to his feet, he began plucking the berries from the surrounding shrubs.

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The first thing Hikari noticed when she woke up was the filtered rays of sun shining onto her. Blinking the sleep of her eyes, she sat up and looked around her. She was in a forest with trees everywhere she could see. No darkness, no repulsive Banette cassanova-wannabe... She was supposed to be within that day-care center... The events were returning to her mind. The fight, the fire... How could she have fell asleep then?

The next thing she noticed then was Blaze. He could be seen plucking berries from the shrubberies scattered around the forest. He had noticed of her awakening and approached with arms full of multi-colored berries. Placing the berries on the ground beside them, the Blaziken offered her a Sitrus.

"_Are you okay now?" _he asked.

Hikari felt into his emotions and sensed concern, worry, more worry, happiness. For a while, she was glad that she could still count on him, touched by his somewhat excessive gestures. Then, realization bubbled from within her. Anger and horror soon followed behind.

** You make me disobey Master... ** she said. She could never go back now. Not after what had happened.

Blaze frowned. Hikari could sense a rise of another emotion in him.

Frustration.

"_Take the berry,"_ Blaze offered the berry again in his out-stretched claw, _"You'll need the energy."_

Hikari swiped the berry off his hand with a push of her hand. The berry rolled forlornly across the ground before it stopped. She then turned away, refusing to face Blaze. There was nothing else she could do about been carried unconscious from the day-care center to where ever they were at the moment, what was done was done.

She knew it was done with her best intentions in heart. For that, she was, admittedly, thankful and glad. But...

There was a sign of exasperation from Blaze as he went forward to retrieve the berry. "Are you going to sulk?" he said.

** You make me disobey Master. ** Hikari murmured. Like it or not, willing or not, secretly thankful or not, she had been made to disobey her only Master, her Komicer. She may have no choice but to follow Blaze now. But that did not mean she intended to follow willingly.

"_You're going to shadow ball that Banette! I just speed things up!"_ the fire pokemon shouted. His frustration was building up.

** You make me disobey Master. **With a bit more emphasis.

"_NO! You know that... that ugly ghost was not what you want! I will not let you do that!"_ he stood up and walked some distance away.

Hikari knew that too. Deep down, she did not want it either... but those were Master's orders.

Blaze stamped his feet on the ground a couple of times before returning and sitting down directly in front of her.

"_I do not care if you like it or not. I'm going to protect you and we are going away,"_ he said in a much softer, calmer tone, but only slightly.

That produced a swelling of emotions within herself. A mess of emotions that mixed and combined with all those emotions from around. Hikari needed to get away. Away from everything around her now. Where she could feel her own feelings.

Instinctively, she gazed towards the top of the tree they were at. Without consideration for safety or Blaze's objections, she started climbing. Branch after branch.

Blaze did not follow. He merely glared sulkily towards her, keeping an eye on her.

Gardevoirs did not evolved to climb trees. But Hikari had learned to do so. With the tree house back at the secret base so that she could follow Komicer up the tree house. To be with him even then.

She reached out for another branch, using her psychic powers to move it slightly closer to her reach.

It was Blaze who taught her how to climb trees then. To be more precise, they learned it together. The tree would not support Ms. Kang's weight, Kireihana and Shockhound too small. Azure was usually too tired then to fly her up. She had wanted to follow Komicer up the tree house, to accompany him. As she grasped the branches weakly in her fragile hands then, Blaze had came forward to help.

He was only a Combusken then, she could sense his awkwardness, his interest then. She had not bothered to decipher his feelings then, all she wanted was to follow Master up and if Blaze had wanted to help, Hikari would welcome it. So together they learned to climb trees. How to test the branches. The best grips. The little technique of swinging a little like a Aipom to grab a further branch. The final reward for them was the view. Hikari's little private spot on the island. And perhaps a little bond they shared together.

Higher and higher. Hikari swung herself slightly and tried to maintain her balance. The top was in sight.

She probably knew how Blaze felt better than he knew himself. She could sense his emotions after all. Yet, she never bothered to stop and think about how she felt for him. Her target then was Master, Komicer and only Komicer. Everything else was a distraction to her single-minded aim. She was happy when others mistook her for a slender woman. That was the closest she could get to be with him.

Part of her knew that she was only a pokemon, a living creature that was commonly used for battles, that whatever her foolish feelings was not meant to be. Part of her wished it was not so. She had learn to accept the truth and just be happy to be by Master's side.

Then Blaze became a Blaziken. Another feeling stirred within him. The courage to reveal and accept all his other feelings.

His haphazard confession was interesting to say the least. Hikari could already sense the presence of the other pokemon trying to peep from behind the tree, not that she needed to. Few trees could hide the bulk of Ms. Kang effectively. And the so-called flowers Blaze had in his hands were Kireihana herself. She had been sheepishly trying not to fidget while whispering to remind Blaze of his forgotten lines and trying to avoid the nervous flames from Blaze's wrist.

It must have broke his heart when she did not give any answer but just laugh at the ridiculous sight. She never answered.

She could not accept his feelings. But... yet... she could not bear to give 'no'.

Hikari had finally reached the top of the tree. The vast mass of forest spread below her. Blaze must have ran, carrying her for a quite a distance. She could actually see Rustboro from there, the poke-center, the mart, the tall imposing Devon building, the Rustboro gym... She kept quiet and closed her eyes, slowly shutting out the emotions from around, isolating that one emotion she need to feel.

Her own.

It had been ironic that it was her own emotions that she found hardest to comprehend. It was always a muddle to her. A mish-mash of intertwining thoughts and feelings. Dread, fear, worry, anger, fatigue, disappointment... and somewhere in there, hope, happiness, the girlish feeling of being touched. Hikari continued to peel away these layers of emotions, there was one emotion she needed to sense for herself.

That was when the ball of flames came descending from the sky. To be more precise, it kind of did a couple of turns in the air like a balloon running out of air, followed by a faint accompaniment of 'Ahh..." before crashing into the outlying forest area.

* * *

Before his eyes, the fireball descended from the sky. Blaze could not recall setting any flying pokemon on fire for the day and since the sun was apparently still in the sky, though it should be setting soon, he came to the conclusion that it was probably a figment of his worried imagination. 

He maintained his vigilance on the tree Hikari was on. He had expected her angry reaction; after all, she had always obeyed Komicer with utmost loyalty. But that did not meant that he could not intervene. He had only did what, he hoped, deep down Hikari wished would happened.

Hikari was still staring into the distance, as long as she remained where he could see her, he would not mind. She could get so... stubborn at times, there was no telling when her cold shoulder treatment would end. This was a coldness that no amount of fire from Blaze could warm, making Blaze feel helplessly unhappy. It weighed down like a tipping bucket of water over a gentle flame.

Footsteps approached. Accompanied by loud angry arguments between two humans with interjections from a third higher-pitched voice.

There were people approaching. The last thing Blaze needed was contact with humans, he had to avoid them. Thinking fast, he hoisted himself up the tree where Hikari was and sat himself down beside her.

** WHAT ARE YOU... ** Hikari started to say before Blaze clamped his hands on her mouth, taking great care not to scratch her face with his talons. He placed a single claw on his mouth and then pointed downwards to the ground, the trainers were coming into sight.

Hikari followed his finger and then glared angrily back at Blaze but it seemed that she understood his intention. She quietened down and kept watch.

Two humans emerged from the forest growth, quarreling with each other furiously. To be more precise, it was a rather uneven fight with the woman scolding the man while the man tried to defend himself occasionally. "We would have bettered those twerps then if you had not messed up then!" The woman whined as she nursed her sorry state. Her long, red hair had been scorched quite badly while burnt marks could be seen on various patch of her white uniform. She reminded Blaze of Team Magma but there was no sign of the trademark 'M' on her, instead there was a large, red 'R' embroidered on her top.

"Your choice was not..." the hen-pecked man tried to retort before the woman cut him off and continued her furious lecture on him. The man with light purple hair wringed his hands anxiously as he followed behind the female. Like the female, he too sported a badly scorched white uniform with the 'R'. He had a worried look in his eyes as his sight flitted from area to area, as if seeking something for redemption.

There was a rustle in the bushes and a Meowth emerged from it, picking off the leaves stuck on his fur with angry annoyance. His golden plate on his forehead gleamed under the glow of the setting sun as it licked its paws to straighten the crooked whiskers on the side of its head . To Blaze's surprise, the Meowth started to speak in human, "Be quiet, you two, Nyasu We are lost and out of funds for now." It shrugged its shoulders at the bickering pair before him.

"And it is all this idiot's fault!" The woman pointed an accusing finger at the man, "He was the one who made that stupid contraption without making it fireproof!"

"But you insisted that the rubber required was out of the budget..." the man protested as he waved his hands in denial, "Because you spent it all on..." he got cut off again as the woman launched a series of complaints against the unfairness of their opponents and the incompetence of her partner.

The Meowth signed again as he looked around at the surroundings. "The point is that we need to get out, Nyasu, and then we can request for more fundings from the HQ." Sparks of frustration were flying between the two humans before him.

Blaze watched the quarrel from above, keeping as quiet as possible. Part of him felt an understanding with the poor man being grilled helplessly by the red-haired dominatrix. Yet, he must not reveal his presence, it would be too dangerous. There was no telling what they would do to if two apparently-wild evolved pokemon turned up before them.

There was a pause in the quarrel below, the participants were keeping their gaze fixated before them as if they were trying to make out a voice they were hearing. There was a puzzled look in their face as the woman nodded her head once.

Then, before Blaze's very own eyes, Hikari leapt down from the tree and landed before the humans.

* * *

** I am trying to find my way out of the forest. I wish to have your help. ** Hikari projected her thoughts towards the motley crew below her. She glanced towards Blaze, he was still absorbed in the humans. This was her chance. 

It was not that she did not liked Blaze, on the contrary, she... she could not really tell... Blaze was someone special to her, someone she cared about, someone who she was very grateful to. She still could not really make out her own feelings, it was too complicated for her.

But she also knew she did not want to leave Master. If she made her move first, Blaze would have no choice but to follow. These humans, they did not seem that bad. If you think about it, even Team Aqua and Team Magma were not bad people, just misguided. She was sure these kind souls would be more than willing to aid them in leaving the forest. Especially since they too had the same aim in mind.

** I will show myself to you, should you agree. ** the Gardevoir said. The humans had stopped their senseless in-fighting. The woman, who seemed like their leader, then nodded her head once. That was enough for Hikari.

Hikari leapt from the tree, using her psychic ability to soften the impact as she landed before the odd couple with their pokemon.

The humans (and the Meowth)'s eyes widened as the Gardevoir landed before them. A collective release of surprised gasps... then the group quickly huddled together aside, whispering to each other.

Hikari could sense excitement and glee replacing anger and irritation from the humans. She presumed that they were just glad to see a new companion. She tilted her head aside in curiosity as the humans continued their unheard banter.

The woman pulled out from the group and asked cheerfully, "Gardevoir, you want to join us?"

** Yes? I wish to leave this place with you... ** Hikari repeated, waiting patiently for the impromptu conference to end.

The woman grinned cheerfully as she returned to the group. More whispering ensured. Then as suddenly as the meeting started, it ended and the participants leapt back into position.

"Well... we would be MORE than willing to take you in, Gardevoir..." the woman answered with her hands clasped before her, enthusiasm evident in her voice, let alone her emotions. Her companions nodded their heads vigorously in unison.

** Really? ** Hikari clapped her hands in happiness, ** May I ask what is your names? **

"I am really glad you've asked," the purple-haired male said as he flicked his hair in a grandiose manner. Out from nowhere, a spotlight seemed to shone onto them.

"Prepare for trouble!" The redhead proclaimed.

"Make it double!" The man continued.

"To protect the world from devastation...To unite all people within our nation!"

Hikari noticed that the Meowth had somehow acquired a spotlight and were shining it onto the two humans. The humans were absorbed in their soliloquy, saying each phrase with gusto and pride. She zoned out the long speech and waited for their names. Looking up, she could see Blaze still up in the tree, a look of disappointment and disapproval on his face.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love... To extend our reach to the stars above!"

** Come down, they can lead us out, ** Hikari projected her thoughts directly to Blaze.

The fighting pokemon shook his head and made some gestures with his hands. He would stay back and watch first, if they move, he would follow behind.

The woman struck a pose with her hands in the air, "Jessie!"

The man knelt and did a similar pose, "James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

A shower of confetti and the Meowth jumped and landed between the humans, "Meowth, dat's right!"

Hikari felt it polite to clap her slender hands to show her appreciation. The group maintained their poses for a while before they relaxed with some back-patting and "Good job!" The Meowth went off for a while to wheel away the spotlight.

"Now that we're acquainted," the woman known as Jessie took a pokeball from her pocket, "Go in then!"

Hikari looked at the pokeball in surprise. Did they misunderstood what she had said just now?

"Maybe she did not understand that, Jessie," the man known as James said as he took the pokeball from her, "Just do... THIS!" he threw the ball towards Hikari.

Hikari could not dodge in time and the pokeball hit her on her head. OUCH! she cried as she bent down in hurt. The ball had achieved nothing but a bump on her forehead.

"Strange... is the ball faulty?" James wondered.

** I already had my own pokeball... ** Hikari answered as she got up slowly, ** I already had a Master... I wish to return to him... **

She could sense extreme disappointment from everywhere, from the self-proclaimed Team Rocket and more evidently, Blaze from above.

"O..." the humans huddled back into discussion. A new emotion emerged from them. Aggression.

The psychic slowly backed off as the humans returned their attention back to her.

"Then..." Jessie produced a rope and gripped it tightly, "We'll have to do it the hard way..."

James took a pokeball from his pocket and enlarged it.

Everything was going wrong for Hikari now as she retreated in fear. Then she bumped into the Meowth.

"I don't think so, Nyasu" it snared as ten claws extended from its paws with a slick sound.

With a thunderous crash, Blaze landed before her, forcing the assailants back with the impact of his landing. He had seen enough from above.

He stood up and gave this Team Rocket his most piercing glare as he placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder, moving her to his back to protect her.

She could sense the fierce determination and anger from within him as she huddled behind the protective visage. At least, she could always count on him.

"That's cheating!" James cried as he released his pokemon. A green, prickly pokemon emerged with a cry of "Cacnea!" and landed before them.

Jessie was also took a pokeball out of her pocket. The group closed in on the two of them.

"_Is this when I say 'Told you so'?"_ Blaze hazarded a question as flames burst into action at his wrist. Hikari could feel his back growing warmer as he generated heat from within.

** No, ** Hikari defended herself for one last time.

Jessie's pokeball opened to shrieks of "Seviper!" A slick serpent pokemon slithered smoothly towards the two.

A grin appeared on James' face, "Now we have two to present to the boss!"

Hikari sensed with horror, the spreading of the grin to Jessie and Meowth.

This time, she really had messed up.

o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o

Thank you for reading.


	5. The Perfect Battle

Disclaimer: Pokemon not mine. Team Rocket not mine. Blaze and Hikari, mine, mine, mine.

Writer's block, can't write...well... taking my time... so much anime so little time...

* * *

This was not a good situation.

Blaze shifted his sight continuously, maintaining a view of the different approaching enemies from all around. He placed an arm to herd Hikari to his back, to attempt to keep her out of harm's way as much as he could.

Hikari in turn shrunk behind him, the situation must have caught her by surprise...

He returned his gaze to the various enemies around them. The assorted group of pokemon and their two trainers, they who claimed to be of a new Team Rocket.

There was no way Blaze could just lift Hikari up and make a run for it. They were surrounded. Their only option was to fight or be captured. Neither felt particularly pleasant to him. At least fighting would give him the chance of winning, no matter how slim his chances were.

There were snares, hisses and other guttural threatening noises emitting from their adversaries, a pokemon version of a call to arms. Blaze returned the noises with a roar of his own, hoping that it could sufficiently scare the other pokemon somewhat and to hopefully boost Hikari and his own confidence.

The air of tension thickened, each side anticipating the other's move, waiting for the first move.

There were pokemon that he had fought and defeated before. Dangerous if underestimated, but ultimately defeatable. Still, he had never fought all of them together before, he had no idea what they knew and what they might do.

For a while, for a very short while, he wished Komicer was here to lead and give commands. Quickly, he shook the thought out of his head. Komicer's maddening schemes and obsession had been the cause of all these. He would not be the one to look to. Blaze would have to look out for Hikari and himself, himself, relying on his own battle-hardened tactics and experiences to fend them off.

Ironically, he noted that most of them came from fighting alongside Komicer.

With a snarl, the Meowth made the first move, pouncing forward with its ten claws fully extended. Blaze held on to Hikari and with a side-step of pure instinct just barely avoided the fury swipes. The claws connected with air, making a soft, slinking sound and then, the Meowth landed on the other side on all fours.

The scratch cat returned its view to its target and stood up; light from the sun gleaming on the gold plate on its head as it hunched its body slightly to a more suitable fighting position.

Its tail waved carelessly in the air as it started to speak in human to Blaze, "You cannot effectively dodge trying to protect the Gardevoir all the time, why not surrender and just join us, Nyasu"

Blaze allowed that thought to flash through his mind, as long as Hikari and him were safe and together, he did not really mind but...

Back with Komicer, one of his policies would be to never attack or provoke an attack from any innocent pokemon. Fighting wild pokemon was mainly an act of self-defense. Even when he was at his maddest, that principle of non-aggression stuck.

Luckily, wild pokemon tend not to take the hint, most of his pokemon such as the Pelipper had attacked first only to be caught but at least, he had principles.

Even if that did not include consultation before providing one-way matchmaking services for his own personal gains.

This Team Rocket had attacked Hikari without provocation. Blaze highly doubted it would be better to join them.

In reply, he aimed a wrist at where the Meowth stood and shot a flamethrower at him. The Meowth made a jump from it with a squeal of fright. The flames flashed past the cat, charring the ground he previously stood at. The whiskers on its face singed with smoke rising from it. The flame had not totally missed.

The Meowth rubbed its sizzling whiskers frantically and then gave them the evil look. Blaze had effectively hurt its pride.

"Cacnea! Use Pin Missile!"

The shout rang out just as the green, barrel-like pokemon pulled back its arms and then trusted it forward, releasing multiple sharp needles shooting towards Blaze and Hikari.

Thinking fast, Blaze took hold of Hikari, moving her further back and using his larger frame, shielded her from the attack. He could feel a stinging sensation on his back as the barrage continued.

_"Stay back! Run! Don't get involved!"_ He pushed Hikari away as needles rained on his back.

Stumbling forward, Hikari looked back at Blaze,** What about you? **

He grimaced at the pain on his back, _"I'll deal will them. Just go. Now!"_

"Seviper! Use Poison Tail attack now!"

There was a hiss and a snare as the serpent pokemon, Seviper reared its ugly head. Red, slitted eyes looked at its target, venom dripping slightly from its long, yellow fangs protruding from its jaws. Then, with an unusually agile leap, the serpent propelled itself through the air, its sickle tail aimed forward, glowing a sickly-looking purple.

Blaze spun around to meet the attackers face on. With the momentum of the spin, he hit the incoming Seviper by the body using the back of his arm, causing a diversion on the serpent pokemon's path. The Seviper was flung away, landing on the ground with a hiss of pain before returning to its upright position, ready to attack again with the additional motive of vengeance.

The other adversaries were on the offensive again. The Meowth was pouncing once again at Blaze, leaving bleeding scratch marks on his body whenever he was not fast enough to dodge. The Cacnea maintained its constant flow of pin missiles against Blaze while he had to keep his eyes on avoiding the deadly touch of the Seviper's poison tail.

Blaze raised his arms to guard against another attack from Meowth while pin missiles left a series of pins stuck on his leg like a demented acupuncturist. He turned himself away to avoid Seviper's forward lunge. This was no way he should be fighting, he barely had time to defend himself, let alone go on the offensive. There were simply too much enemies for Blaze to handle alone.

He needed something that would allow him to attack all the enemies in one go... but what...

"Cacnea, use Leech Seed!"

With a cry of acknowledgment, the Cacnea started to spin furiously like a runaway Hitmontop. Then, three seeds flew out of the spinning ball of green, landing with precise accuracy on the feet of Blaze.

To Blaze's horrors, the seeds grew almost immediately upon hitting the ground, ingraining itself and sprouting into long, intertwining shoots. These seedlings then proceed to entangle around his feet, holding Blaze firming in place and bringing his footwork to a halt.

Blaze could feel his energy slowly sapping away as the entangling seedlings fed on nutrients from his body to grow. He would have to burn them off before he got too weak to fight.

As he aimed his wrist at the shoots, he saw at the corner of his eyes, the approaching Meowth again ready to inflict more damage on him. By instinct, Blaze turned his attention back to the Meowth, focusing on his taloned fist the energy and discipline required for brick breaking and brought his fist to connect with the scratch cat as it landed.

There was a certain sense of satisfaction on seeing the repelled pokemon but then...

** Blaze! Watch out! **

That was when he felt two sharp pain puncturing his foot from below.

* * *

Hikari watched on with helplessness as Blaze fought off the enemy pokemon with emotions of anger, desperation, worry, frustration all emitting from him. The sudden change of the friendly looking Team Rocket had been so sudden that she was at a lost of what to do. Coupled with the fact that she was admittedly too weak to fight properly at the moment due to fatigue...

Waves of pin missiles filled the air along with the cries of battle from the melee. Individually, Blaze might have been stronger than all of them but there were just too many enemies surrounding him, concentrating their attacks on him and giving him no time for retaliation.

The Cacnea managed to leech some of the energy-draining seeds onto Blaze, tying him up on the spot. Blaze fended off another vicious attack from the Meowth, then Hikari noticed that the Seviper was up again and on the move.

Silently the Seviper slided towards Blaze whose attention was on the other pokemon involved in the battle. With a smirk, the serpent pokemon opened its gaping jaws, purple deadly venom dripping from its protruding fangs.

For Hikari, what happened next felt surreal, she could not shout, she could not move. She could only looked on as Blaze fought the losing battle for their safety. The Seviper dislodged its jaws, allowing the fearsome fangs more space and then started to close them onto Blaze's foot like a vice.

** Blaze! Watch out! **

Lifting her dress-like covering, she running towards the fight. Regardless of her current strength, Blaze needed her support.

She could no longer stand aside helplessly and do nothing.

The Seviper sank its fangs into flesh, venom coursing from it into the fire pokemon's body. Blaze reacted with a blast of flamethrower downwards to his feet, burning both plant and serpent below. The Seviper released his bite on the feet as the fire drove him away. With the encumberment gone, he stumbled backwards unsteadily, the effects of the toxic taking place.

** Blaze! ** Hikari reached his side and held him up, Are you fine?

"_I told you to stay away..." _Blaze murmured and steadied himself, shaking his head to get the coming dizziness away, _"It is too dangerous..."_

Another wave of Cacnea pin missiles came through the air with the Seviper closely behind, the venomous tail blade raised, ready to slice flesh.

Hikari felt Blaze pushed her weakly, just enough for her to avoid the pin missiles. He himself took the full impact of both enemy attacks. With a swing of his arm, he forced the Seviper back again.

** Stop! You're too weak! I can fight! **Hikari cried, then she concentrated on her images of Komicer in her mind. In the past, her move they called 'Return' was her best move. All she had to do was to visualize her Master and strong energy would course through her body, allowing her to beat back the opponent.

Yet, somehow, this time the images were not forthcoming... "Hikari, you're getting married!" rang through her mind, the reflecting glasses obscuring his eyes, his enthusiastic grin on his success... the usual strength was not in her.

Her body started to glow faintly, signaling the time to attack.

Rushing towards the Cacnea in defiance, Hikari brought the outpour of emotional attachment energy on the cactus pokemon.

** Return! **

With a grunt, the Cacnea winced and stumbled slightly back. But that was all.

Then with a snicker, the Cacnea unleashed a barrage of pin missiles on Hikari. She fell back on the onslaught of needles, the piercing pain stinging on where the needles hit.

She had to try again. The 'return' was too weak; she did not remember being affected by all those war cries, this must be a fluke. Hikari got up quickly to dodge another wave of attacks from Cacnea. As she scrambled to avoid the painful needles, she concentrated once again on the image of her Master.

She tried to draw on the past memories, when he rescued her from the wild pokemon when she was still a Ralts, her determination to climb the tree back at the secret base... but the energy was not forthcoming.

Hikari could sense the gleeful emotions from Cacnea. He knew he could win.

Putting her faith in her attack, once again she made another rush towards and released the emotional power of 'Return' on the Cacnea. The Cacnea took the hit in its strides with nary a shock. It merely snickered again and prepared to attack once more.

She sensed the faint emotion of anger behind her before she felt the talons of Blaze on her shoulder, forcefully grabbing her and pulling her away from the incoming projectiles.

Then another turn to avoid the purple serpent's slash from its tail blade.

The toxic was taking its effect on Blaze, his emotions were getting weaker, his reactions slightly slower.

Yet, he still held on tightly and protectively on Hikari, keeping her out of most of the harm, shielding her with his own body if necessary.

** Let go! I think I can psychic that... **

"_Don't fight... you are not in the right mood..."_ Blaze wheezed as he pushed her go away before turning back to the opponent. His flames were spluttering in vain.

** But... **

"_No, if you insist, just help me get some berries nearby... "_ Blaze waved his hands tiredly, then returned to draw himself as the target.

She knew she could still fight... somehow anyway. But Blaze needed medication, there had got to be some anti-poison berries around... Hikari looked around her into the forest, unsure where the berry bushes were located.

** I'll be back! ** she shouted as she ran into the forest.

* * *

"Don't let that Gardevoir escape!" the red-haired female Team Rocket shouted to the pokemon. Blaze forced his body forward, placing himself between the enemies and Hikari.

Summoning his remaining fire, Blaze shot the flames before him, creating a wall of flames.

"_Don't think... about it!"_ he struggled against the drowsiness creeping towards his consciousness.

The enemies stopped their advance, and then laughed heartily. Blaze could make out a "First victory" or "happy boss" in there some where.

Three clicking sounds.

The human Team Rockets and the Meowth leveled three futuristic rifles on him, the glow of gathering energy growing brighter as the device hummed threateningly.

Sensing danger, Blaze grabbed a branch from the ground and threw it towards them.

They fired the rifles.

The energy blast from the rifles hit the incoming branch, reducing it to smaller fragments and continued to hit Blaze squarely on his chest. That knocked him back into a tree nearby.

Intense pain and sore traveled from both his chest and back to his brain. His chest sizzled from the energy beam and his back felt raw... he might also have broken some ribs there.

Ignoring the pain, Blaze rolled over from where he fell, just in time to avoid the next wave of artificial hyper beams. The tree behind was left with a smoldering black spot on where the blast hit.

The Meowth lowered his rifle. "Still not interested, Nyasu?"

_"Weapons and trainer intervention are against the rules!"_ Blaze shouted.

"We're Team Rocket. We DON'T care about rules!" the Meowth replied before raising his weapon on Blaze. The other two humans snickered along and did the same.

More pin missiles from the left. A snare as the Seviper also launched another poison tail attack. It propelled itself through the air, intending to end the battle with a final blow.

** Blaze! Catch! **

Blaze looked up to see a berry coming towards him, Hikari waved frantically at Blaze as she prepared to throw another one.

"_Run away!"_ he shouted.

** Shut up and just eat! ** Hikari retorted as she prepared to throw another berry.

Blaze grabbed the berry from the air and managed to turn to avoid the Seviper's attack. Then he bit into the berry, eating it as fast as he could. The humming from the rifles was getting louder. The serpent pokemon rose again to attack.

Slight amounts of energy was coming back to him, delaying the poisonous effect on him, hopefully enough for him to win the fight. Another blast of the energy beam, another dodge, this time somewhat faster.

If Team Rocket can ignore rules, Blaze figured that so can he. It was time to get unconventional.

He took a step back, one to the side, allowing the Seviper's tail blade to cut air. Then he swiftly thrust his talons forward, grabbing hold of the serpent by the base of the tail. Closing his claws around it, Blaze muttered a quick apology to the Seviper for what he intended to do next.

"_What!"_ was all the Seviper had to say before he found himself swinging wildly in the air. Blaze swung the hapless Seviper before him, forming a defensive shield of dizzy serpent against the incoming pin missiles.

"Seviper! That's against the rules!" the red-haired woman shouted, "Release my Seviper!"

Turning a deaf ear to the fervent shouts of foul play, Blaze concentrated on the closest of the Team Rocket, the Cacnea. Spinning deftly like an insane but talented gymnastic performer with a chain instead of the simple ribbon, he closed the distance between them, the Seviper still swinging before him.

"_Seviper!"_ The Cacnea cried frantically as it unleashed barrage after barrage of pin missiles towards the purple spinning tornado of doom. The needles scattered everywhere as it hit the approaching purple blur.

Finally, Blaze brought the Seviper in contact with the Cacnea with a calculated swung. There was a squeal as the impact threw the rotund cactus pokemon into the distance like a clubbed golf ball.

"Cacnea!" The male Team Rocket cried as his pokemon flew past him, "That's cruelty to pokemon! Just because you are also a pokemon..." He returned his sight to Blaze just in time to see the poor Seviper heading his direction.

"Arrr!" he cried as he stepped back to avoid the Seviper-go-round, the Seviper hit the rifle instead, sending the weapon flying into the air.

The strength was leaving him once again. The grip on the Seviper was slipping, he needed to act fast to act on his temporary advantage. Blaze brought the Seviper into the next closest target, the talking Meowth.

The Meowth did not have enough time to react, save for a "Nyasu" before it was sent flying behind the Cacnea.

Before he had the time to at least disarm the female Team Rocket, he lost his grip. The Seviper slided out of his talons, joining the previous two pokemon on a journey through the sky.

Blaze stumbled in dizziness before collapsing, the darkness was slowly approaching.

All that stood before him was the two human Team Rocket.

"You... you... cruel beast!" The female Team Rocket wailed in melodrama, "How can you do that to my poor Seviper?" she leveled her weapon on Blaze.

This was the end, he had defeated the pokemon but not the humans. He could only wish Hikari had went ahead and escaped.

** Stop! **

The word sounded off in their minds.

Hikari stood at his side with a look of fear and determination. She held one of the rifles in her arm, the one that the male had dropped. The muzzle was glowing bright blue and the hum of the rifle growing gently.

She pointed the rifle towards the Team Rocket, evidently struggling with the weight.

On their side, the Team Rocket paused, not knowing what to do when they themselves was faced with their own weapon.

They stood their respective poses for a while, each side waiting in anticipation.

Hikari finally ended the standoff by shaking the rifle with frustration, How come it is not shooting?

"Oh!" the male Team Rocket swelled with pride, "This is our Rocket Hyper Beam Master 1.6. To use it, just aim and press the trigger. While not as strong as a real hyper beam, it is more than sufficient to subdue the enemies of the glorious Team Rocket. In fact, it is considered one of the best inventions of our Rocket Labs..."

** Here? ** Hikari pointed to a trigger and aimed the rifle back at Team Rocket.

"Yes..." the male tried to say before he was stopped by the female Team Rocket.

"Stupid! You just told the Gardevoir how to..."

It was too late. Hikari pressed the trigger to the rifle, unleashing a direct shot of hyper beam at the enemy. There was an explosion and then, before Blaze's eyes, in a gravity defying manner, the humans were sent flying into the air, after their pokemon.

There was a faint scream of "Team Rocket blasting off again..."

Hikari threw down the weapon and went to Blaze, a look of concern on her face.

"_That... was a very good move..."_ Blaze managed to say as the darkness approached. He had finally reached his limits.

** Berries! Quickly! **she said hastily as she dropped some berries before Blaze.

It felt quite peaceful actually... now he could feel tiredness coming to him.

In the daze that followed, he felt himself fed, lifted and led off... and then...

and then...

* * *

Thank you for reading. This is version 1.1, after being Beta-ed.

Thanks to StarDragonX for your speedy comments, while not all heeded still very useful. Thank god the next battle will be one on one.


	6. The Perfect Interval

Disclaimer: The usual.

Many thanks to StarDragonX for taking time to beta-read this chapter. It helps.

* * *

When Blaze finally came to, he noticed that he was staring into a white ceiling with a electrical fan rotating lazily from a relatively comfortable bed. There was no sound of battle, no sound of the woods... only the monotonous sound made by the blade of the fan cutting air and the metallic clattering of an approaching trolley of metal instruments.

"So you're finally woke up."

A gentle human voice asked, followed by more clattering which sounded like some particular instrument being fiddled with.

Blaze tried to lift himself up, only to feel the sensation of pain coursing through his body. Only then did he notice all the bandages on his chest, he did broke a couple of ribs during the fight... he let himself down onto the bed heavily, wincing as his recovering chest protested with even more pain.

About the fight... what exactly happened between then and now... now what?...

"Oh don't do that yet! You Blazikens may recover fast but not THAT fast!" the voice chided and a human face appeared in sight. The human had beautiful pink hair topped with a nurse hat. She was pretty, by human standards.

"Now, stay calm while I take you temperature." the nurse said as she lifted an unidentifiable instrument into the air, taking care to hold it with a pair of soaked gloves, "This will not hurt... too much anyway."

Blaze watched in petrified horror, unable to resist as the lady expertly forced his mouth open and placed the contraption into it.

"235 degree Celsius... that seemed fine for a Blaziken." the lady read the reading from the instrument after some time and removed it. The contraption emerged steaming red with a hissing sound.

"_Where am I?"_ Blaze finally found his tongue.

The nurse looked confused, of course, she would not know pokemon speech. She tilted her head aside and then slapped her fist into her palm in satisfaction.

"You wait here, I'll get someone," she said as she left hurriedly, pushing the trolley with her.

Blaze stared into the white ceiling again. For how long had he been in this place? He knew from experience that the lady was probably a Nurse Joy, one of the elite pokemon nurses around Hoenn and that would meant that he was currently residing in a pokecenter, being nursed for his wounds.

There was the sound of opening doors and then footsteps, coming towards him.

** Blaze. **

"Hikari?" he tried to get up again, ignoring all the painful protestation from his recovering chest, "Are you fine?... Where are we?"

** Hush, ** Hikari placed her gentle hand on his chest, sitting down at his bedside, ** You fainted then. I tried to carry you but... luckily we were discovered by some humans later and they brought us to a nearby pokecenter. **

Blaze processed the thoughts in his mind. So they were back with humans...

"_What about Komicer?"_ he asked.

** I think they have informed Master... he would probably come soon... ** Hikari let her head down.

Blaze signed loudly, so that ended their little escape. Like it or not, they were in no condition to continue running. He looked towards Hikari, but this whole adventure had been for her future, if they just return...

** Are you thinking of escaping again? ** Hikari scolded, ** I know you're thinking of it. You are too hurt... just rest and recover... at least for me. **

"_No. We will stop running,"_ Blaze finally said, making up his mind.

Hikari looked at him, a small, forlorn smile back in her face. ** Then, rest well, Blaze. **

"_We cannot run forever, let us end it once and for all, I shall talk to Komicer about it,"_ he said to her, her eyes growing wider with surprise.

** But! **

"Help me get Nurse Joy, I need to recover as fast as possible, even if it meant even more strange contraptions."

** Blaze! **

They stared down each other, each one with their own thoughts.

** You just recovered from that battle, please, stop resisting, ** Hikari said softly with a tinge of sadness.

Blaze did not reply, he merely returned her gaze.

** Fine! Suit yourself, you ignorant, battle-crazed pokemon! ** she stood up in a huff and turned her back to him.

She paused, then without turning her back, asked ** Why? **

"_Because..." _he replied without a thought,_ "I can't just leave you in that situation... I just can't..."_

He looked on as Hikari continued to leave for the door. Before Hikari exited, he thought he heard her say, ** Thank you. **

Soon after, Nurse Joy entered the room with a trolley of even stranger, and somewhat disturbing contraptions. A Chansey wearing an apron and a small nurse headdress followed closely behind.

"Blaze... that's your name..." Nurse Joy pushed the trolley to his side and cheerfully addressed him, "Are you sure you want the instant? The process is quite complicated without your pokeball."

Blaze nodded his head determinedly, with a slight desperate hope that most of those equipments, especially those with gagged edges would not be required.

Nurse Joy took the contraption that looked like a combination of an eggbeater, a screwdriver and a shaver and fiddled with it. "Chansey, give this boy the needle... " she said and then to Blaze, "This would not hurt... too much anyway."

That seemed like what she liked to say.

The Chansey appeared with a small syringe in its hands, "_Just relax..._" she cooed as she administered the anesthetic by plunging the needle into Blaze's arm.

There was a sharp pain, then Blaze found himself drifting back into dreamland.

* * *

Hikari stood outside the room, sensing Blaze's emotion from within. The determination. The fighting spirit. And a healthy dose of fear and uncertainty, especially when the strange unfamiliar whirling sound got louder. Then finally, calmness as sleep took over.

They had been lucky. Soon after Blaze passed out from the poison and his injuries, she had tried desperately to stuff the berries into his mouth, hoping that it would revived him somehow. When that did not work, she tried to lift him up, to carry him to where the nearest pokecenter was, in the general direction of Rustboro.

For a psychic pokemon, she was surprising better in physical attacks rather than the more traditional mental-based moves. Yet, she still had her frail body, a common characteristic of psychic pokemon; she could barely moved with the additional weight of Blaze on her, even when using her psychic powers. She was close to tears in desperation then... perhaps even closer than she would expect.

Luckily, they were soon found by some humans who had been attracted to the sounds of explosions in the forest. They were then drove to Rustboro for treatment.

It seemed that their escape had been made known already, the Nurse Joy at the pokecenter recognized them almost immediately. It would only be a matter of time before Master was notified and arrived.

Hikari looked out of the window, into the star-lit sky. If not for the artificial electrical light within the pokecenter, the crescent moon from outside would have casted its gentle glow on where she stood.

She would have to make up her mind on the situation. She would have to feel her own emotions, especially that one that she could not grasp then. She had her loyalty, her love, her dedication to Master.

Nothing else matters, or at least she thought.

After the battle with Team Rocket, she probably knew, even she had wanted to ignore it. Blaze's feelings had not been a surprise to her, not after his confession in the past, not when she could read his feelings like a book. It was her own feelings that eluded her, something that she could feel in her grasp but yet, not.

She liked him. Just as she liked Kireihana or Ms. Kang. But her like for him was slowly evolving... into a feeling she was not used to.

Is this... what they call love?

At least, she now knew that she would follow Blaze until the end, just like how he followed her.

Lost in the canvas of stars above, Hikari stood at the window, oblivious to the noise of drilling from inside the room, prodding her own emotions inside her.

Then, another familiar emotion came into her senses. Emotions of anger, of determination, of being wronged and betrayed, the desire to win and succeed... one who was so similar to Blaze's emotions except these were not his.

Hikari could hear flapping of wings as a flying pokemon landed outside the pokecenter. Then a buzzing sound of a pokemon returning to its pokeball.

The outside doors were opened, followed by footsteps and ringing of the counter bell.

Hikari snapped out of her daze.

He had finally arrived.

There was some conversation from inside Blaze's room and then, the Chansey came out of it hurriedly, wiping her hands with a piece of cloth.

"_A late night visitor... I hope it's not another one of those emergency case..." _she mumbled grumpily as she waddled quickly towards the counter at the lobby.

** Uhm... Ms. Chansey? ** Hikari asked hesitantly, she could sense annoyance from the Chansey, ** Do you mind if I come with you? **

The Chansey frowned and then waved her hands, indicating her approval before resuming her direction.

Hikari followed hurriedly, she needed to confirm if her instincts were right.

"_Blaze's 'instant' is going quite well, Nurse Joy would be done quite soon. You two had caused a whole lot of trouble for the day," _the Chansey rambled on as they walked.

"_And here we are,"_ the Chansey opened the door and presented her best welcoming face, _"Welcome to Rustboro Pokecenter, how can we help you?"_

Before the counter, stood Komicer, her Master looking most displeased, his fingers tap-dancing on the counter in a most impatient rhythm.

Hikari did not know what to feel, happy or horrified. His arrival had signaled the end of their little escapade.

His eyebrows rose as he saw Hikari with the Chansey.

The Chansey took a glance at the trainer before the counter and realized who he was. _"Oh, we were expecting you. Then, I will be off to aid Nurse Joy. Have an emotional reunion."_

Then, she turned and left the lobby to the two present.

** Master! ** was Hikari's first gasp to Komicer.

"Why?" was his.

"Why did you run off?" he continued, his voice rising in volume and anger, "Why did you and Blaze wreck the daycare, injure the Banette..." his voice trailed off.

Hikari cried, ** No! I did not... **

She did not... then, but now? Could she say the same especially after Blaze...

"Most of all, why did you betray me?" Komicer said with disappointment, "Pokemon are not supposed to betray trainers, I did not train you all for that..."

** Master... **

Komicer shook his head wearily, the events had tired him out, at least mentally.

"Nevermind, the damage has been done... I've came back for you two, once the Banette recovers, we can always do it again..."

She had hurt Master, she knew it. Hikari could sense all the anger and more importantly, disappointment from him. And part of her still wanted to return to him...

It was tempting.

Then came the shouting and furious footsteps from behind the door, and the door being flung opened by an agitated Blaze. Judging from his vigor and the aura of determination, Blaze had more or less recovered, such was the wonders of the 'instant'.

"_Komicer!" _he said, putting a protective hand on Hikari, _"We are not going back."_

Master returned the glare with spite, "Blaze! Of all pokemon, my first! My first pokemon went against me, making me the joke of Hoenn!"

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, "I'm willing to give you one last chance, return to me... or I will..."

"_Forget it!"_ Blaze retorted, tugging at the bandages on his chest, wincing just slightly. Hikari could see the ugly scars, just barely visible under the plumage of his fine feathers, caused by the fight, and partially was her fault. She felt a stab of her own guilt, she had owned too much to him.

His wrist started to burn with fire, reducing the used bandages to ash.

Nurse Joy was coming out of the corridor, into the lobby, shouting at Blaze for leaping out of the bed immediately after the 'instant' on hearing from Chansey, Komicer's arrival.

"Oh," she stopped as she saw Komicer and bowed, "Welcome to Rustboro Pokecenter, I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused."

Both Komicer and Blaze ignored her, both looking fiercely at each other.

"Fine," Komicer calmed down and adjusted his glasses, "Then we will do it the traditional way."

Blaze nodded slowly, his wrist burning even stronger in anticipation. She could sense anxiety from him, and perhaps some fear.

** Blaze! Stop! ** Hikari tried to hold him back, ** You are not in condition to fight now! **

Komicer took out a pokeball from his belt. The pokeball enlarged with a hissing sound and opened up. A red, metallic mantis form emerged from the red light of the ball.

The Scizor shook himself to warm up, after being released from the ball, and then cast a look of anticipation on Blaze. Cold, emotionless save for a slight tinge of excitement was all that Hikari could sense from him.

"_I've been waiting for this chancccceee... for ssso long."_ the Scizor finally stood poised behind Komicer.

Despite Hikari's desperate warnings, Blaze got into position. _"Go away,"_ he whispered to her, _"This isn't your battle... If I lose, run."_

** What! **

"Prove your worth," Komicer ordered softly and coldly to the Scizor, raising his hand and with a swift action, pointed to Blaze, "Defeat."

In a flash, the Scizor was over the counter, its pincers in a downward slash. The miscellaneous objects on the counter such as forms or stationaries scattered over the floor.

Hikari was pushed off by the force of the impact, away from the combatants.

Blaze managed to block the aerial ace with his wrist just in time, for a while both adversaries looked into each other eyes before they separated again with a backward leap on both sides.

The Scizor shook its over-sized pincers, looking disapprovingly to the burnt marks in it. The fire from Blaze's wrist had scorched it, leaving black patches on the shiny surface. It then prepared a fighting stance with both pincers forward.

Blaze rubbed his arms to ease the pain of the impact before going into his preferred fighting stance. His wrists burst with energetic flames as he crouched slightly for momentum.

Then with a cry, both rushed towards each other again.

"No fighting in the pokecenter!" Nurse Joy shouted frantically at the developing chaos before her. No one noticed her.

** Master! **Hikari made her way to Komicer, he was looking at the battle with interest, occasionally shouting out orders to the Scizor.

** Stop them! Blaze only just recovered! **

"Et tu, Hikari?" Komicer looked to her coldly, "Well then, I have got something for you too. I was hoping not to show it but..."

He took another pokeball out and enlarged it. "I borrowed her from another trainer, to show you... "

"What is perfect!"

Hikari looked in realization as red light emerged from the pokeball, forming a humanoid looking pokemon; slim, slender arms; long, flowing robe; red, intense eyes...

** No... **

The Gardevoir bowed modestly, Good evening, I am not exactly strong so please go easy on me. A ghostly ball of blue light floated from her hands.

Komicer smiled.

"Gardevoir, subdue."

* * *

Thanks for reading. 2 more chapters to go, can you handle the wait? 


	7. The Perfect Duel

Pokemon is a trademark of Nintendo and 4kids (I think) Blaze, Hikari, Komicer, Scizor and Gardy2 as characters belong to me.

Sorry for all delays. Studies catching up on me. Enjoy.

* * *

"Stop!!! You're ruining the pokecenter!!!" Nurse Joy was shouting frantically as chaos reigned within. She was almost close to tears as the fire spread around the lobby, courtesy of Blaze's usage of flamethrower. The Chansey nurse had returned from the background with a hose, trying in vain to extinguish the equipment-destroying flames. Pluming smoke arose from the blazing wreckages.

All these collateral damage took second place to what Blaze could see from the corner of his eye.

The second Gardevoir.

"_That basta..." _he cursed as he blocked another aerial ace from the Scizor, forcing him back. Raising his wrist, he allowed fire to burst out in a flamethrower towards the advancing Scizor, igniting everything flammable in its path.

The Scizor was gone in a flash, re-appearing at Blaze's side, still fighting with nary a burnt mark on his exo-armor from the many flamethrowers Blaze had released. For a bug with a heavy steel armor, he moved very, very fast. Too fast for a stream of fire to hit.

Another aerial ace. Another block.

Blaze knew his arms were bleeding from the continuous impact. He could see that certain parts of the Scizor's steel pincers had shown signs of melting. There was also a couple of fist impression on the armor from the occasional brick breaks that Blaze could land on the Scizor.

Unlike Blaze, Hikari probably did not get much of a rest after the forest encounter earlier. She was in no shape to fight... he wanted to help but...

The Scizor flashed past him again, intending to strike from the back. Blaze rolled forward hurriedly as the armored bug brought its pincer onto the ground with a loud crash.

Blaze turned back to face the Scizor, the fire on his wrist burning in anticipation. The pincers had left a large depression on where it had impacted on the ground. _"Fight me! Hurryyy! Huurrryyy! HHUUURRRYY!!"_ the Scizor screeched in delirious glee, pincers poised to strike again.

There was no way he could go to Hikari's aid, not with the Scizor fully intent on defeating him at the same time. _"Grrr..." _he growled angrily, annoyed at the situation they were in now. Annoyed at how Komicer could view everything from aside with such a cold, calculating attitude.

Blaze braced himself once again for the incoming impact as the Scizor launched forward again. There must be a way...

* * *

Hikari backed off slowly in fear and desperation. The blue ball of fire from the new Gardevoir moved closer.

** No... **

The new Gardevoir started to move. Before Hikari could react, the will-o-wisp flew forward in a sudden burst of speed and impacted on Hikari's body. Then, upon impact, it burst into bluish-black flames and dissipated into the air.

There was nothing for a few seconds, then a hot, searing sensation started to course through Hikari's body. There was no fire on her physically but it felt as though fire was engulfing her. _"Aguu.."_, she moaned as she felt her strength leaving her body due to the burning pain.

Calm down... this is all in your mind... Hikari stared at the other Gardevoir as she rubbed at her non-existant burn. The other Gardevoir did a little movement with her hand, similar to how a Medicham performs his pre-battle yoga warm-up. She could tell that the enemy was calming herself down, preparing her mind for the mental intensive special moves.

Hikari was not a fighter by nature. While she had been a participant in the elite four matches in the past, she had seldom fought since then, remaining more at the sidelines with Komicer, cheering her friends on.

She looked towards Komicer with desperation. He stood aside, keeping an eye on both Blaze's fight with Scizor and how the Gardevoir was dealing with her. Nodding occasionally and frowning at other times, he took down notes in a little black notepad. The old Komicer would be cheering, not taking notes...

** Komicer... please stop... ** Hikari tried for one last time, feeling out with her sixth sense that small emotion of her old trainer. She knew the old him should still be in there, somewhere. If only she can appeal to it...

Komicer lifted his head from his notebook and returned Hikari's plead with a condescending glance. "Gardevoir! How long do you take to calm your mind?!" he barked.

** Yes sir. ** The Gardevoir replied and then with a movement of her arm, prepared herself. For a while, Hikari could feel static filling the air around her. With a gasp, she scrambled backwards as the air before her exploded into a shower of sparks and electricity.

Hikari could sense slight annoyance from the opposing pokemon as her thunderbolt narrowly missed her. Pure instinct had only just saved her. She might not be so lucky the next time, not with the burning pain still on her.

She gritted her teeth as thoughts raced through her mind... Unlike Blaze, she had not fully recovered; unlike her opponent, she did not know Calm Mind or could remain calm in such a time... she was also concerned about Blaze's ongoing fight... she was at a disadvantage from all angles...

The other Gardevoir had regained her composure and directed her hand in Hikari's direction. Static gathered in the air again. Before Hikari could react, the mass of electricity exploded.

* * *

"No, we can't use the sprinklers! We have a fire pokemon here! And they might use electric attacks!" Nurse Joy was shouting into her mobile phone over the cacophony. She had given up on trying to stop the chaos; instead, all she could do was to salvage as much of the pokecenter as possible, moving as much equipments out of the lobby as she could while making urgent calls to the local firefighting station. Chansey was still making a valiant attempt to control the spreading fire caused by Blaze with the hose.

As the water from the hose extinguished the flames on the curtains with hisses and smokes, Blaze made it a point to keep an eye on the water stream while he struggled against the unrelenting Scizor. He could not afford to be hit by water at the moment.

Whatever work Nurse Joy had done in healing him had been undone in the last few minutes. He could sense the cracking of bones whenever pincer met flesh again. With a grunt, Blaze pushed the Scizor back from him. The bug pokemon was forced back with a screeching sound as metal fought against the friction on the floor. The smoke parted as the Scizor finally came to a halt.

For a while, both adversaries watched each other, wheezing slightly from tiredness. The Scizor too was getting wore down by the close encounter with his fiery wrist, his metallic pincers were scorched and somewhat deformed from constant exposure to Blaze's fiery wrists.

Blaze shifted his stance, trying to regain some breath as the Scizor swung his oversized pincers, slashing the air before him viciously.

"_I am the blade of my ssssword..."_

Blaze watched as the Scizor started to glow slightly, the steel on his pincers regaining some of its gleam.

"_Ssssteel isss my body and bug in my blood..."_

The Scizor moved back into a fighting position, strutting an elaborate pose like an ancient martial artist before doing a graceful dance of war. Twirling swiftly and smoothly in the air, his lyrical chanting growing in volume as he picked up speed. His pincers continued its assault on the smoked-filled air, gleaming sharper with each slash.

"_I'm the generation of a thoussssand breedssss..."_

"_There is no lossssss nor isssss there any gain..."_

"_Withsssstood pain to be the ultimate weapon..."_

Whatever the Scizor was doing, Blaze was not taking his chance. He could see from the side of his eyes Hikari just managing to barely avoid a thunderbolt attack. He needed to end his fight fast. This was his chance.

"_Waiting for the fight of my life..."_

"_I have no regretssss, Thisss isss my only path..."_

Blaze targeted his wrist towards the spinning Scizor, fire spluttered out fiercely as they started. Then a stream of fire burst out towards the Scizor.

The whirling mass disappeared from sight before the flames could hit him. The flames found its target on the furnitures instead, consuming the poor sofas in fire.

The bug type reappeared just before Blaze, his sword dance nearing the end. Blaze recoiled in surprise for a while. The Scizor's pincers raised to his back for maximum power, on its way down for a strike.

"_My whole life wasss..."_

An opening! Blaze raised his fist forward, ready to block and counter with another flamethrower, this time a direct one.

There was another explosion of static from aside and a scream.

"_Hikari!"_ Blaze turned towards the noise, distracted by the circumstances of his love.

"_UNLIMITED SSSWORD DANCE!!!"_

As the Scizor finished his chant, its pincers gleamed in its former glory, gaining a sharp shine to it. Then he brought his pincer down on Blaze. There was a cracking sound. Blaze had no time to react as metal hit flesh and he was pushed back by the impact into the wall with a smash.

Blaze shook his head to get the groggy feeling out as blood spread across his chest, bringing pain along with it. He had left a humanoid-looking impression on the wall upon impact, gravel from the wall falling lightly on him.

The Chansey had ran just in time to avoid the incoming Blaze. The hose lay unattended to beside Blaze, with water continuing to flow from it, forming a little stream, dyed red by Blaze's blood.

There was a flash of red. Blaze raised his arms up to block the Scizor's aerial ace. He grunted as another stab of pain flashed through his arm. The impact caused even more bleeding from his injured arm, blending into the redness of the Scizor's armor. Numbness spread across the injured arm.

The thunderbolt had given Blaze an idea. The Scizor was simply too fast for a flamethrower. Perhaps it was time to use that move he had learnt from the old lady at the Battle Frontier. The flames from his wrists flared brightly in protest for a while before it extinguishes, leaving behind smoldering smoke.

"_Blazzzeee!! Isss that all you got!!! What happened to the Blazzzeee of the championzz!!!"_ The Scizor leaped back, the burning particles of debris pushed by the impact. He swung his pincers to the side in a slick movement to remove the blood from it, _"The Blazzzee I knew would not give out sssoo eassily!!! FIGHT ME!!!" _

Then raising his pincers once more, he charged forward for a final blow.

* * *

Hikari had never learnt the move 'thunderbolt', thus she never knew just exactly how powerful it was. She did knew that it must have contained a few thousand voltages of power.

At least that was how much she estimated from the strength of the electricity that hit her, shaking her body violently.

There was a loud scream, probably hers.

When the electrical convulses ended, Hikari slummed to the floor, moaning in pain. At least there was an end to the electric induced pain, unlike the burning will-o-wisp that still plagued her.

A stream of flame flashed from behind, setting the sofas on fire. Smoke was filling the room. Blaze was still fighting, this was no time to give up. Hikari looked back up with renewed determination.

The Gardevoir was preparing another attack, Hikari could already feel her hair standing due to the accumulating static charges in the air. She could sense no emotions from the Gardevoir, only a serene calmness.

It was time to break that calmness. Closing her eyes, Hikari reached out with her psychic powers to her opponent. She had done this before in the past, back when she fought in tournaments. She could do it again.

The static grew stronger.

Finding her opponent's psychic being, she started to tune it to her own.

There was a scream as the static dissipated. The Gardevoir started to slap her body frantically, as if to put out some invisible flame.

Synchronize successful! The burning sensation would have been duplicated on the enemy. Hikari opened her eyes and struggled to her feet. A shadowy mass of dark matter started to gather in her hands as she readied to counter attack.

"It's in your mind! Continue fighting!" Komicer ordered the Gardevoir in annoyance. The other Gardevoir stopped herself and looked towards Hikari. Her calmness had been broken. A sense of confusion and franticness took over her emotions.

Hikari picked up as much speed as her injured frame could take and then with a surge of strength, threw the shadow ball at the opponent. The shadow ball hurled across the room, hitting the Gardevoir directly in the stomach region. She fell back from the impact, evidently somewhat hurt.

"Stand up! It's only one shadow ball!" Komicer shouted with a little more emotion, pointing towards Hikari, "Do what you are made for!" The psychic pokemon climbed back to her feet with a look of pain on her face. Letting go of her midsection which got hit, she placed her hands to the temples of her head.

** I'm... not going to... lose to a second-rated... pokemon... **the Gardevoir said as she pushed her hands forward. Hikari could feel the surge of psychic heading towards her, pushing her back, straining her mental strength.

** What happened to modest?! ** she retorted in frustration and anger. Another shadow ball gathered at her hand. ** I am who I am! Just because I like being stubborn, doesn't mean I am useless! ** Hikari threw the shadow ball as hard as she could towards the perfect Gardevoir.

Her opponent dodged the shadow ball with a quick movement to the left. She then raised her hands again to charge the thunderbolt. The soft buzz of gathering electricity could be heard. The dodged shadow ball flew through the pokecenter wall, out of the combat zone and into oblivion.

Hikari tried to ready another shadow ball before the thunderbolt hit. Dark mass gathered once again in her hands.

Then it disappeared.

** What!? ** Hikari looked at her hands in fear and shock. She tried again, but no shadow ball was forthcoming. She had used up her dark energy required for shadow ball.

The gathered electrical energy of the thunderbolt exploded with the clap of thunder.

Hikari bent down with a yelp, clutching her head in fear. Luckily, the opponent had aimed the thunderbolt too high; her hair bristled with static but it was not a direct hit.

There was a tremendous crashing sound from aside, coming from Blaze and the Scizor's duel.

Static gathered again.

Hikari got up and ran forward towards her opponent as fast as an injured Gardevoir could. Without shadow ball, her next best move would be 'return'. Concentrating on the image of her master, Komicer, her body started to glow faintly. Images of her past with him flooded her mind.

Komicer, her benefactor...

Her master...

Loyalty...

Love...

"What are you doing!? Thunderbolt!", the voice of Komicer could be heard commanding the other Gardevoir.

** Return! **

Hikari hit the Gardevoir with the output of emotional energy. The Gardevoir stumbled slightly, losing focus on the thunderbolt. Then she regained her balance.

** Is that all? ** she said while she forced Hikari back with her psychic attack. Hikari fell back on the floor, too weak, too tired to resist.

Too weak. Her once strong 'return' was too weak. Too weak against that Cacnea, too weak against this Gardevoir. And her body still burned with hot, painful intensity. Hikari felt her chances growing smaller. Already, she could sense the growing static charges. Her opponent would not miss a second time.

Sorry, Blaze...

She hung her head in both pain and shame.

Then there was a loud explosion of fire from aside.

** Blaze!**

* * *

_To be continued... _


	8. The Perfect Days

If I had owned pokemon, this would not be called a fanfiction. So perhaps its better that way. Enjoy.

* * *

The Scizor drew near with a sudden spurt of speed. His chilling, emotionless eyes narrowed into a fiery glare of victory. His huge, heavy claw stretched to the back for maximum momentum; it swinging downwards in a fast movement, ready to cut feathers, flesh and bones.

Blaze placed his hands to the ground, ignoring the pains of protest from his various injuries and pushed himself slightly up. The flames that usually burn at his wrist in times of battle or emotions was no more, leaving behind a trailing snake of smoke.

He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate for that short moment. There was another element similar to fire, a distant cousin perhaps. At least, that was what the old lady said then as she taught the fire, fighting pokemon that move. Fire came in burst of energies. Regulate that energy, control it to make power.

Fighting back his aqua phobia, Blaze made a grab for the loose hose, the water spurting out and directed it towards the Scizor. Water sprayed onto the hot armor with a hissing sound. Unaffected by the water, the Scizor brought his claws down onto Blaze with a resounding crack.

Blaze had blocked the attack just in time to prevent it from hitting his ribs. The hose was let go, the collecting water from it forming a puddle at the Scizor's feet.

"_Isss that your final move, Blazzzee? Isss that what thisss love doesss? You disssappoint me..."_ The Scizor sneered, the water did not hurt him at all. Water droplets dripped from its steel exoskeleton as it peered partly in disgust, partly in curiosity at Blaze's desperate stunt.

"_No," _he retorted. Blaze returned the glare. Small sparks ignited at his wrists. First a few, then a surge of static noises. Finally, electricity formed around where the flames usually were.

Blaze lifted up his free hand and concentrating on keeping the electricity and his fears in place, he brought the fist down into the puddle with a thunderpunch. There was a loud clap of thunder as the body-generated electricity channeled from his fist into the puddle of water.

Then, the electric coursed through the watery conductor around the Scizor. There was a great buzzing sound as its body shook from the sudden charge. When the shock ended, it fell back unsteadily. Its body still trembling from the electric shock.

The Scizor lifted up its claws to its eye level, they were still shaking. Its eyes widened in surprise and awe. _"I'm paralysssed... It sssseeemed I wasss wrong about you..." _The Scizor mumbled thoughtfully as it struggled to return to a fighting position.

Blaze stood up, his left arm hanging limply at his side. It also seemed to be twisted in an unnatural angle. Yet, he could not feel anything from that arm anymore, making it quite useful for blocking attacks. Maybe he will never feel with it again...

He brought his right arm forward, re-igniting the flames over the electric charges at the wrist. Taking a step back, he charged forward with a roar.

Still recovering from the paralysis and too slow to dodge, the Scizor move its arms back and then push them forward. Its wings fluttered wildly, releasing a silverly dust into the air, stinging Blaze's open wounds with the bug powered Silver Wind. Blaze's body connected with the Scizor. Ignoring the pain, Blaze continued his charge, pushing the Scizor forward hard into the wall.

Blaze brought his fist on the Scizor's thorax, the fire burning on his wrist growing in anticipation of the next attack. The flames licked the red metallic armor, coating it with soot. _"Sssso I losssee... I wasss good, wasssn't I?"_ the Scizor looked into Blaze's determined eyes as he spoke softly with acceptance of the impending move. For a while, there was calmness and almost gratitude in Scizor's eyes.

Blaze gave a weak smile in reply. It had to be done. Then, he released a flamethrower point blank before the Scizor. Blaze thought he heard a soft murmur, _"Thank youu..." _There was an explosion when the fire met wet steel armor and beyond. Maybe the flames hit some gas pipe within the walls. The flames engulfed the Scizor, melting parts of the steel armor, revealing some of the green flesh of the Scyther it was before. Then, it fell.

The impact of the explosion hit Blaze in his chest directly. He could only remember a sudden, intense pain at his back as his body was hurled into the wall at the other end. His body could no longer take the punishment. His only regret was his inability to go to Hikari's aid. Hopefully, she would escape somehow.

Finally, there would be sweet, peaceful darkness.

* * *

Hikari watched as Blaze slumped into the wall and stopped moving after that.

** Blaze! **

She cried as she scrambled towards the unconscious Blaziken.

The explosion had also disrupted the other Gardevoir's concentration. She gave Komicer a confused look that asked for more instructions. Opponents were not supposed to just leave to aid someone else in the middle of a battle.

"Tsk," Komicer took a quick glance at the fallen Blaze before recalling the fallen Scizor back into the pokeball, "So much for the best of a thousand breeds. I knew bug would never win fire..."

For a while, Hikari sensed a fleeting moment of concern from Komicer. But that took secondary concern to the one who laid before her. She placed a hand on his chest to sense for life. His thoughts were almost peaceful. His chest still moving up and down with his faint breathing. He had wounds all over him, the old ones that had opened up again, joined by the many new ones. It pained her to see how much he had suffered in her place.

"Continue."

Komicer gave a single command to the other Gardevoir. With a nod, the Gardevoir approached, preparing for a mental wave of psychic against Hikari.

** Stop... Can't you see? He needs... **

Hikari stood up, putting Blaze's body down gently on the ground and placed her arms towards Komicer, pleading.

"Attack."

Komicer interrupted her, issuing another command. His eyes flitted between Blaze's fallen form and back at the fight. Hikari could sense some concern, some worry in his emotions. Yet, he did not show any on the outside, still focused on the fight. She would need to...

The opponent Gardevoir released the psychic attack on Hikari, pushing her back with the invisible force. No... Hikari forced herself to concentrate, retaliating with her own psychic attack, struggling against the push.

She took a couple of steps forward. In a battle of psychic, she would definitely lose, she knew she could not last long... Taking a quick glance at Blaze's unconscious form at the side, she returned her vision to her opponent.

Then, she started to visualize her time with Blaze.

When they first met, she a Ralts, him a Torchic... Their mutual curiosity of each other...

Learning to climb the tree back on the secret base... The bond of learning together...

The confession, still somewhere in her mind... The fact that she never answered...

His reaction to her matchmaking session with that Banette...

The daring rescue which she did not want... yet desired and hoped for...

The fight with the Team Rocket, his sacrifice...

The bedside determination...

Now...

A bright, powerful glow emitted from her as she slowly fought back the psychic force. New strength started to flow into her, despite of the burning sensation that still filled her. The heat reminded her of Blaze anyway.

Komicer is no longer her master...

The energy grew as she readied her attack, pushing back against the psychic attack, closing the distance between her and the Gardevoir. A sense of panic started to grow within the other Gardevoir as she desperately stepped up her attack, trying to delay Hikari's advance.

Blaze...

** Return! **

With a shout, she forced the concentrated output of emotional energy against her opponent. The other Gardevoir was knocked back with a shriek by the incoming force. Hitting the wall with a pained look on her face, she slumped down and was engulfed by a red light.

Komicer recalled the Gardevoir back into the pokeball. Anger, frustration, shock, disappointment all registering in his emotions as he reattached the pokeball to his belt without a single word.

Hikari knelt down in fatigue, she was victorious but spent. As if on cue, the sprinklers above finally turned on, raining water down on the scene of chaos within the pokecenter. The burning fire started by Blaze's flamethrower extinguished with a hissing sound and a thin snake of smoke trailing upwards, leaving behind glowing embers of charred furnitures and ashes. Drenching and soothing her skin, dispelling with the burning effects of the will-o-wisp.

"Why... you..." Komicer said through his gritted teeth, his hands reaching for another pokeball at his belt, "You..."

Hikari was too tired to reply. She could only looked at Komicer through her wet hair, look at him with sorry, pleading eyes as she prodded his emotions. She could no longer fight.

"Stop!"

Nurse Joy shouted over the sound of raining water. Komicer's hand stopped at where it was, he looking at the nurse. It seemed that she was the one who turned the sprinklers on when she finally determined that the fight had ended and no further electrical attacks to be used.

She stood before the scene, the water soaking into her usually prim and proper pink uniform. Water dripped from her soaked hair as she surveyed what was before her, frowning unhappily at what had become of her lobby.

"Stop," she repeated, softer. She looked towards Blaze's unconscious body. The water was washing away the blood from his wounds, forming a pool of reddish-brown around him. "We've got more urgent things to look to," she said with an urgent tone as she approached the body and touched his wrist.

After some deliberation, she shouted for the Chansey. The Chansey arrived at the scene and lifted Blaze up with a heave. "He has lost too much blood. Quick, he needs immediate operation now!" Nurse Joy instructed. Waddling as quick as her small feet could, the Chansey obeyed and piggy-backed Blaze into the room at the back.

Calmly wiping Blaze's blood from her hands with her apron, Nurse Joy went to her feet and walked towards the still stunned Komicer. They looked at each other, then without warning, Nurse Joy gave him a slap on his face.

"That was for ruining the pokecenter."

SLAP! Again.

"And that was for the injustice you did to your pokemon."

Komicer looked back at the indignant nurse, placing his hand on his reddening cheek. He could speak nothing back.

Nurse Joy turned her attention to Hikari. "I'm going back to operate on Blaze now, you can wait outside there where the sprinklers are not activated," she pointed towards the door. Then she started to stride towards the operation center.

Before she left, as like an afterthought, she paused and turn around. "You too," she shouted towards Komicer, then she swung open the door and entered. Komicer was looking blankly to the ground, Hikari could sense that he was deep in thought.

Lifting herself back to her feet, Hikari dragged her body back, through the door and into the drier corridor. A loud vibrating sound could already be heard from inside the operation room. She allowed herself to lean against the wall, then unable to fight against tiredness and gravity, slided down to a seated position on the floor.

She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them with her arms, her gown stuck damply to her body. After some terrifying thoughts went through her head, she brought her head down to her knees and tried to clear her mind. Her emotions were going haywire at the moment, caught between Komicer outside and Blaze inside.

Blaze undergoing operation again... from Nurse Joy's tone, it seemed to be quite serious. She could also sense the grim determination and tension from Nurse Joy and the Chansey inside. There was nothing she could do but wait, that sense of helplessness...

The door opened and Komicer stumbled into the corridor. There was a blank look on his face as he walked clumsily towards where Hikari was and let himself down opposite her. He had left a trail of wet footprints along the corridor. Water droplets on his spectacle lens obscuring the view of his eyes. Hikari could sense some worry, some concern, some disappointment, much anger and perhaps even some regret and shame in Komicer. Nurse Joy's slap had stung him deeply.

For the next hour as the whirling and beeping continued from within, occasionally interrupted by Nurse Joy giving orders to Chansey, both of them did not speak a word. Hikari sobbed silently in fear while Komicer stared blankly at the ground. Both of them thinking of what next.

Komicer finally broke the silence.

"Did you remember how we first met, how I became your trainer?"

Hikari looked at Komicer in surprise. Of course she did. Blaze, then a Torchic was chased by those bullying Poochyenas while Komicer whisked her away. That had made a lasting impression of him for her.

She nodded.

Komicer leaned back against the wall, reminiscing their past together. "And that time we first fought our first gym battle against Roxanne? The one with the Nosspass?"

It was tough, she as a Ralts was almost knocked out if not for Blaze's timely double kick. He was already a Combusken by then.

"What about the time you first evolved to a Kirilia?"

Her new found gracefulness. The awe of the other pokemons in their team. The sudden urge to dance in the sunny day, and Kireihana, the newly caught Oddish dancing along with her.

"Then, a Gardevoir."

She was happy, so happy to look human...

"The championships, our battle with Wallace."

It was tough, all of them was pushed to their limits and it was by luck that Shockhound scored a critical hit on the Milotic with the thunder.

"We were a good team then, weren't we?" Komicer stood up to look out of the window, not facing Hikari. "Those were the good old days."

** Yes, they were, ** Hikari replied. They really were.

"What happened to them?" he asked to no one in particular.

** They were gone. Those were the past. **Soft, with a tinge of regret.

"The perfect days..." he mused, "and now my present have lost to my past... I don't suppose we can return to the perfect days, can we?"

** It is too late now. **

"I thought so..." Komicer turned back to face Hikari, "I have lost, utterly lost..." She could see that there was a bitter smile on his face, resigned to his defeat by his first two pokemon.

The noise from inside the operating room died down and the door opened. Nurse Joy came out with a stoic look on her face, peeling off the operating gloves stained with blood and slightly charred. Sweat dripped from her temples. Tucking the gloves into her apron, she looked grimly at Komicer and Hikari and shook her head gently.

** Nurse! ** Hikari felt slightly faint. She could sense the sadness and fatigue from the nurse.

"He will survive, he is a strong pokemon," Nurse Joy said with a sigh, "but it was too late to deal with his left arm properly." She raised up her own left arm and pointed to various parts of it as an example. "He had multiple bone fractures at these areas, and his nerves were severed along these points. I did the best I could so he should be able to recover within a month or so but it will no longer be as strong as it was before... he probably could no longer take part in any fighting competition in the future, otherwise he should be fine..." she looked directly at Komicer as she said the last part.

"What a night... I'll have to look into the damages tomorrow..." she yawned as she stretched herself, "You would have to take responsibility for those," she gave Komicer another glare, "Chansey will see to you later."

Then, with another yawn, she walked towards another room further down the corridor and entered, retiring for the hectic night. Save for the cranking of medical equipments by Chansey inside the room, there was no other sound to be heard. They were left alone again in the long empty corridor.

Hikari watched silently as Komicer paced up and down the corridor. She could sense that him thinking, considering in calm resign. She herself found herself wondering about Blaze, at least he would be fine. Not being able to fight in official competition could be a blessing instead.

Finally, Komicer came to a halt. Hikari could sense the unhappiness and reluctance in him as he came to a decision. He turned to face the outside, not wanting to face her as he started to speak.

"Fine. I accept my defeat. I got no need of the past. I hereby release you and Blaze from my trainer-ship."

** Are you sure? ** Hikari asked, not knowing how to respond. Should she be feeling sad or happy now that she would be free?

"Yes," Komicer continued, "From now on, you would be your own pokemon... but..." he turned around to face Hikari. Somehow, she could sense tears streaming from her eyes, blurring her vision. She did not want to cry... these tears... she could not tell if they were tears of sadness for giving up her past, joy for the possible future or relief for the present... perhaps it was all three.

"But..." Komicer finished his sentence, "I've got one condition."

* * *

Blaze came to when he heard the opening of the door. Once again he was on a comfortable bed with the fan rotating lazily overhead. This was the second time, wasn't it? How long did he sleep this time?

He tried turning his head to see his visitor. It hurt. In fact when he thought about it, his entire body throbbed with a dull pain. Save for his left arm which there was only numbness. It was worst this time.

Hikari was the one who entered, her long, beautiful gown swept across the room as she approached him. There was a gasp of surprise from her when she noticed that he had finally awoke.

Blaze tried to smile gently, but due to the pain, it turned out more like a grimace. _"How did it go?"_ he asked, trying to ignore all the pain.

** Easy on yourself, you are still recovering... **Hikari spoke softly as she seated herself beside the bed. She then took something from the counter top beside. Blaze strained his neck to see what it was.

The two pokeballs that Hikari now held in her hands were very familiar, they were where they called home until recently... whenever that was... That must have meant...

"_Ouch!"_ Blaze winced as Hikari gently tapped his forehead with her finger. Stop moving about! Nurse Joy said that you are forbidden from moving until certified hundred percent fit. she chided softly. Hard to see what Blaze could do about it, considering that most of his body was placed in a hard, unforgiving cast making most movement almost impossible. The prospect of seeing only things above him, mainly the rotating fan for the next few weeks did not appeal to him...

** We're free, Blaze. **

"_That... is perfect..."_ Blaze could only reply since he could not do anything else.

** Komicer had officially released us... but he had a condition for us. **

"_Okay. Though I doubt I can handle any trek into unknown forests filled with stairs and unfriendly pokemon, seeking for some elixir you can buy at a store at the moment."_

** No. You can't. You had to stay here and recover. And that is not the condition either. **

"_So what is it?"_ The rotating fan was quite calming actually. It was a nice diversion to the recent hectic experiences.

** You remember all those broken doors and fires you caused at the daycare center? **

The unpleasant image of Clefairy and Galie came to mind again. Blaze would have shuddered if he could.

** We caused quite a ruckus there and we need to repay the damages. I agreed to it. Once you recovered, we would be working there until the debt is cleared. Then we would be free... **

"_Is that good?" _The turning blades was quite hypnotic too, Blaze could feel himself drifting back into dreamland. His vision was getting slightly foggy and unfocused. A yawn came to him.

Hikari stood to her feet and leaned forward to Blaze, her eyes looking straight into his. Then, she gave him a light peck on his forehead.

That felt quite good.

** I will leave now. Get well soon, we've a job to do. ** Then, the beautiful figure turned away to go to leave him in peace.

Blaze reached desperately with his right arm, despite all the pains of protest sent to his brain. Grabbing wildly, he caught hold of Hikari's dress and tugged her back.

"Don't go, stay with me... Ouch!"

Hikari hit his hand lightly, but just enough to send another wave of hurt through his arm. Blaze retracted his arm in reflex, trying not to moan in agony.

** You are not supposed to move. ** she scolded, but she did not continue leaving. Instead she sat herself back down beside Blaze, then gently took his hands in hers.

** Now, sleep. **

Blaze smiled faintly as his eyes slowly closed. "You know I love you..."

** So do I, you rash fool. **

And so Hikari stayed by Blaze's side while he returned to sleep. The future between the two of them would be something he would look forward to... once his injuries recovered.

It was not perfect but it would do.

**_ THE END _**


	9. XX: The Perfect Freedom

Disclaimer: If I own Pokemon, what would I do? Probably do a purge of all ugly pokemons, leaving only the cool and the cute. Or maybe make everyone dragons! And rename it Dragon Master! Yeah! That will be cool, really cool... Thank god, I don't own Pokemon.

This last chapter was intended to close up some loose ends and to provide a sneak peak into the future.

* * *

The familiar rooftop of the day-care center came into sight. When is the last time I visited this place? "Down here," I instructed Azure with a gesture of my hand pointing towards our destination. 

My loyal Altaria squawked in agreement and lowered the altitude of flight. The puffy wings of clouds angled as she concentrated on descending from the sky without me falling of her back. Those intelligent eyes narrowed in concentration. I can feel the speed of the winds against my face increasing in intensity.

Land approaches. Soon Azure landed smoothly and gently on the ground, like a hot-air balloon. "Good job," I praised her as I gave her a congratulatory rub on her head. She cooed delightfully as her tail waved from behind the white clouds that constitute her body.

Taking out my pokeball, I recalled her and turned towards the day-care center. She should have sensed my arrival by now, I guess. Taking a deep sign to compose myself, I pushed open the fence and entered.

** Welcome to the day-care. How can I help you? ** her warm voice sounded in my head. There was no real sound, just the voice that goes straight into your mind, filling you with warmth.

The Gardevoir stood at the counter, playing cheerfully with a couple of young pokemon. After leading them back to the garden, she turned towards me. ** Komicer, **her voice resonated in my mind, ** How are you now? **

Hikari sure has changed, she has matured into an almost motherly figure here.

"Things are fine, I guess. I came to see you and Blaze... where is the day-care lady?" I replied as I looked around for the old lady, it was habit to at least greet her.

"Looking for me, young lad?" I heard and then, the small, bent figure of the day-care lady appeared at the door frame, "Came to check on your pokemon? I don't think they grew by a lot but you can take them back if you want."

I laughed lightly. Technically, Hikari and Blaze are no longer my pokemon. I can officially released them but someone has got to repay the damage to the day-care center. They will have to work here until they fully repay the full sum.

"Are they helping you much?" I asked the old lady. ** Komicer! ** Hikari exclaimed in indignation. The old lady nods with satisfaction.

"They have helped us by quite a bit, I am very grateful for their presence. But I believe that the debt is cleared. Do you wish to take them back?"

I shook my head. A promise is a promise. "It is up to them," I looked to Hikari.

The old lady smiled gently and then, bidding her farewell, she retreated back to her room.

"What are you two going to do?" I asked. Hikari hugged an Abra and rocked it slightly in her arms, thinking.

** We would like to stay here. It is not that bad. ** she finally answered, ** We are thinking of adopting a child since... ** she quieten down.

I nodded in understanding.

She smiled, almost sadly and continued in a happy tone, ** I wanted to adopt a Mime Jr. but Blaze wanted a Magby. We decided on a Meditite in the end. **

"What?" A vision of a pokemon with a garlic-liked bulb on its head appeared in my mind.

** Oh! It's not that bad... **Hikari exclaimed, evidently reading my feelings, ** We have decided that I will teach him the psychic skills while Blaze trains his fighting ability. **

"Where's Blaze?" I asked, not wanting to hurt Hikari's feeling by sticking to the subject. I personally thought that they could have just adopt both the Mime Jr. and Magby. They have after all became the de facto parents of all the abandoned pokemon in the center. There was also that new fighting/psychic evolution for male Kirilia in that other island elsewhere. I never liked that queer, blue pokemon they had in mind.

** Blaze should be back soon... ** Hikari thought. Speak of the devil, Blaze came out of the door behind, with a number of sweaty, exhausted pokemon trailing behind him.

"Blaz!" the Blaziken growled fiercely as he saw me. He had never truly forgiven my past deeds, the ugly scars that streaked across his arms and chest acts as a constant testament to those. For both him and I. According to Hikari, during rainy days, Blaze would lose all senses on his left arm.

** Blaze, calm down... ** Hikari chided gently as she approached the fire pokemon. He relaxed, his frame sagged as Blaze grudgingly let himself down on the sofa, ordering his trainees to seat themselves down on the floor. Hikari sat down on the sofa beside him.

"Blaz...iken?" Blaze asked, tending to the more boisterous youths of his group as he gave his best scowl.

I did not need Hikari's translation for that. It was the same all the time.

"Ms. Kang is doing well, she seems to like water a lot. Junior too. Shockhound is still as lazy as ever, he had enjoyed his hibernation too much... Azure's here, you want to speak to her yourself?"

I took out Azure's pokeball and released the Altaria. The fluffy dragon pokemon started to talk animatedly with Blaze, small chuckles could be heard from them. They must be talking about the latest exploits of Kireihana.

Somehow Kireihana had gotten into her mind that the Scizor needs to be babied after he returned from that fight all injured. Now, she would not let the helpless Scizor out of her sight, keeping perched on his shoulders all the time. If she could ingrained herself, she would have done so.

Poor Scizor was at a loss on how to deal with the unusually feisty Bellossom. Interpersonal skills were never his forte. He could communicate better now, but he would rather be fighting. To think that my original plan for him was to be a baton-passer.

He had a strange habit nowadays of disappearing for a couple of days without telling anyone. It drove Kireihana so angry and even more clingy when he returned. We never knew where he went... then again, a lot of these younger pokemon at the day-care center somehow learnt to perform that sword dance...

I looked to Hikari and Blaze suspiciously but they gave nothing away.

It was admittedly, very peaceful now. Less stressful and less pressure. The pokemon seemed happier too.

When did I first notice it? I could not remember... these days of happiness just flew by so swiftly, leaving behind short, precious memories in its wake...

It was time to go. I slap my lap twice to remind Azure of the time.

"Alt..." My dear Altaria squawked disappointedly as she made her final goodbyes with them.

"It's okay, we'll be back," I cheered her up as she returned to her pokeball.

** So soon? ** Hikari asked gently.

"Yes, I've got an appointment to keep..."

Hikari and Blaze stood up and walked me towards the door in silence, all of us thoughtful.

Just before I left, I turned around and looked back at my old pokemons.

Hikari was waving her green, slender hand to bid me farewell. Come back again!

Blaze with his right arm around her, gruffly mumbling something in Blaziken tongue at the constant nudging of Hikari. Probably a goodbye.

Them, surrounded by all those young, curious pokemon, yet to seen the outside world with all those different possible trainers. Some of them tugging gently at Blaze's feet, as if asking who that strange human was.

A strange feeling came to me... then,

"Are you happy?"

I blurted out my question. Then I looked at them, looking at the scene I sense I was missing on.

They looked at each other, Hikari and Blaze. They did not speak a word but there was an understanding between each other.

Then, Hikari smiled warmly,

** Yes.**

* * *

Remark edited on 10 Oct 07: This has been my shortest fic so far. I mean my latest fic, 'Movements' with only four chapters so far already has a longer word count than this. However, I felt that the length should not deter readers. This is, in my opinion, my strongest fic. The length meant concentration of theme and plot. Things are seldom slow... Let's just say, this is the fic I am proudest of. Proud enough for me to upload this one on every fanfiction archival site I found. Serebii(dot)net forums... Ficwad(dot)com. 

This marks the end of "In Lieu of Perfection". Will I ever return to the Pokemon fandom? Maybe. This story came to me when I was playing Pokemon Emerald. Perhaps something will strike again when I get my hands on Diamond/Pearl. Having more reviews would also help.

For now, it's back to anime fandom for me!

KC Komicer**  
**


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